Mysteries Solved Only Lead to More Mysteries
by Snowflakes-Over-the-Water
Summary: During the trios 7th year, Hogwarts gets a strangely familiar transfer student. Who is she, what is she doing befriending Draco Malfoy, and what does she have to do with the downfall of Voldemort? Various Couples. ON PERMA-HIATUS
1. Prologue: Meet Elizabeth Dratter

Notes: Hey guys! It's Emmy-chi! This isn't my first fanfic ever, I have another account with a bunch of crappy fics that I'm not going to tell you about cause I'm so embarrassed by them. I'm working on some other Harry Potter fics, but this is the first one I've decided to post, hope you guys like it~

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_When you lie to me it hurts,_  
_but I can get over it at the_  
_prospect of a new adventure_  
_rising out of the wounds._  
_-anonymous_

_

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_

**Prologue: Meet Elizabeth Dratter**

Elizabeth Dratter sat at the end of a small, four poster bed, swinging her legs. She was currently staying in a guest room at the Leaky Cauldron in London. Until recently she had lived in Massachusetts with her parents, but everything had changed one day. Now she was here, nervous as hell, and wondering just how wizards and witches could keep something as large as Diagon Alley secret from the thousands of muggles living in and around London.

Sitting in front of her on the ground was a half filled wooden trunk. In it was a whole assortment of spellbooks, potions ingredients, and everything else she would be needing throughout the next school year. Elizabeth was a witch, and this year she was being transferred from Salem Academy of Witch Magic, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The news had come only a week ago when her foster parents sat her down on the couch and told her that she was adopted.

_  
Flashback_

_"Lizzy, honey, your father and I would like to speak with you in the living room." Elizabeth looked up from her computer and over at her mother who was standing in the doorway of her room. Shrugging off her headphones, Elizabeth followed her mother quietly. _

_Her father was already sitting in his giant red armchair by the fire place. Elizabeth walked past him and slouched into the couch. Her parents sat opposite of her, both looking slightly nervous for some reason. Her mother looked like she wanted to cry while her father just looked extremely sad. Finally he broke the silence._

_"Lizzy, it's time we told you the truth about you."_

_Elizabeth could only raise an eyebrow and will them silently to go on. Unless you hadn't noticed yet, Elizabeth isn't prone to talking very much._

_"Elizabeth, it isn't a coincidence that you're a witch while no one else in our family is. Lizzy, dear, please don't be angry at your mother and I, but honey, you're adopted."_

_Elizabeth felt her mind spinning. _What? This has to be some kind of mistake? I can't be adopted, I look exactly like Mum and Dad!

_She felt tears welling in her eyes, and she refused to meet her 'parents' gazes. She could tell they were frowning and she could hear her mother crying now._

_"We didn't want to keep it from you," Carl Dratter murmured. "When we adopted you Albus Dumbledore came to visit us and told us that we weren't allowed to tell you until you were seventeen, and that when we did you would be transferred to Hogwarts."_

_Elizabeth felt her eyes widen and she spun her head around to stare at the people she had thought were her parents for almost seventeen years. Her mouth opened and she uttered one quiet word._

_"What?"_

_Across from her, Carl and Diana looked pleased that they had gotten her to speak, but they were unaware of what was to come. _

_Before anyone could react, Elizabeth stood abruptly, smashing her hand against a small coffee table to her right.  
_

_"You people are...you're despicable! You think that you can lead someone along for seventeen, SEVENTEEN YEARS! Make them think that you're their parents and then just turn around and tell them that they're adopted, and that they have to transfer schools? I'm not leaving my friends! I won't do what you're asking of me, you lost the ability to order me around when you told me that I was adopted!" _

_Her father stood quickly, his hands out in a defensive position._

_"Liz, we wanted to tell you, but Dumbledore said we couldn't."_

_"I don't care what that old coot says! You should have told me!"_

_"Elizabeth Harmony Dratter, you will not take that tone with me."_

_Elizabeth's blue eyes flashed icily and her wild mane of red hair began twirling in a surge of magic. _

_"That isn't even my name is it? You can't order me around using _that_ name seeing as IT ISN'T MY NAME! I BET I DON'T EVEN LOOK LIKE THIS EITHER, DUMBLEDORE PROBABLY HAS ME UNDER A GLAMOUR OR SOMETHING!"_

_"That is correct."_

_Elizabeth's eyes snapped toward the front door where an old and frail looking man with long white hair and half moon glasses stood. He looked up, his piercing ocean blue eyes sparkling._

_"Would you like to see how you really look?"_

_Elizabeth was speechless again, the rare moment where she would actually speak gone from her mind. Almost numbly, she nodded._

_With a flick, the man removed a wand from his sleeve and pointed it at her. She gulped as she felt a cool sensation, like water being dripped down her head, flood through her body from her head down to her feet and back up again. When the tingles left she heard her the Dratters gasp. _

_Her hands immediately touched her hair in alarm, afraid that she looked ugly. _

_The Santa-like wizard smiled kindly at her when she looked to him for assurance. _

_"Don't worry, you look lovely dear." _

_Suddenly anxious, she rushed from the room, sprinting up the stairs to the bathroom. She slid on the linoleum floor and came to stand in front of the mirror, panting slightly, before she too gasped. Gone was the frizzy, waist length red hair that always seemed to match so well with her 'mothers' and gone also were her pale blue eyes. In their place was pin straight black hair and the prettiest sparkling green eyes she had ever seen. _

_Elizabeth quickly spun in a circle, inspecting the other parts of her body. From what she could tell, she had sprouted up like a bean stalk. No longer was she just over 5 feet, now she had to be at least 5 foot 6 inches. The tight fitting black shirt she had been wearing stopped above her belly button and felt extremely constricted around her chest. Looking closer, Elizabeth almost shrieked. _

There's no way..._ she thought. _Oh dear Merlin, there is! My chest is bigger! _Before she could revel in the happiness of her bust size growing as well, she heard a small rip. Glancing down she saw that her shirt was starting to rip around the chest area. With a final loud sound, it ripped all the way down her side, leaving part of her bra exposed. _Damn, this was one of my favorite shirts. _She quickly ran into her room and changed into a ratty looking t-shirt that she usually reserved for sleeping in. _

_As she began climbing back down the stairs she remembered the present problem at hand. Automatically a string of questions began shooting around in her head. She hopped back into the living room, and plopped down onto the couch. The old man was sitting in an old rocking chair, sipping tea, and being all together silent. When she entered the room, he looked up and met her questioning gaze. Putting down his tea, he smiled at her again._

_"All your questions will be answered, my dear. Now, let us start at the beginning. My name is Albus Dumbledore and I am the headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry..."_

_End Flashback  
_

With a sigh, Elizabeth placed her last book into the trunk, shut the top, and slid the clasps into locked position. All of that had happened a little over a week ago. She had been told that her parents were dead, killed by an evil wizard who went by the name of Lord Voldemort. Dumbledore refused to tell her the name of her parents, her last name, or any details about relatives. He said that it was of utmost importance that she had no idea who she was, as then, You-Know-Who(a popular nickname for Voldemort)wouldn't know who she was either. From what little the elderly wizard would tell her, she got that she was very important in some way or another.

Dumbledore had however, told her the story of why she had been left in the care of muggles and sent to a U.S. magic school up until this time. It was to protect her, he said, to keep her oblivious to the happenings in Europe so that she wouldn't figure out who she was. He had informed her that she was now needed in England for there would be a war soon which she would be needed for. At first she had been wary, but decided to believe the kind man. She had been given two days to pack clothes and her wand, and to say goodbye to her friends here.

The hardest to part with had been Chelsea. Chelsea and Elizabeth had met at Salem Academy and immediately hit it off. As they grew older they came to share everything: secrets, boys, a dorm room, gossip. There was nothing about one that the other didn't know. Elizabeth had bid her friend goodbye, promising to visit her during holidays, with tears shed rapidly on both sides. After that, all there was to do was grab her trunk, hop on a plane, and stay in London for a few days before the Hogwarts Express left from Kings Cross station on the 1st of September.

Elizabeth had hoped to leave the States without a confrontation with the Dratters, but it was not to be so. They met at the airport, and Elizabeth ignored them entirely. Both apologized over and over again, telling her that they would always love her. Finally, as they were about to leave, she turned around, dashed at them, and hugged them, telling them that she forgave them. Then, she and Dumbledore were gone.

While on the plan she had asked Dumbledore why they didn't just apparate, and he told her that flying was easier on his old bones. Elizabeth didn't fully believe him, but she let it go and didn't bring it up again. The two traveled together all the way to London, where Dumbledore brought her to the Leaky Cauldron, took her school shopping, and then left her alone for the next four days, promising that he would send an escort to bring her to the train station on the 1st. As he left, he reminded her that she would have a private sorting to determine which Hogwarts house she would be in(he briefed her on all four during their plane ride) and informed her that she would still be using the name Dratter while at school. He then left, with a twinkle in his eye, after whispering to Tom the innkeeper that all expenses were on him.

Now, it was the 31st of August. Tomorrow Elizabeth was going to Hogwarts to start her new life. With a loud groan, she collapsed onto the bed, and in minutes she was asleep, dreaming of the uncomplicated days when she still believed that she was related to her parents and when Albus Dumbledore had never made a visit to her house.

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Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, I only own this plot and and any characters that you don't recognize from the books or movies.

Notes: sorry, this is a slow chapter, but then again it IS just a prologue. I promise things will speed up, I have a good idea where this is going and I'll tell you right now that there WILL be a happy ending. I might possibly have to raise this story's rating up to M, but I'm not sure yet so I'll leave it at T and tell you guys when/if it's going to be rated higher. Thankies for reading~ Reviews make an me happy, so click that button! Constructive criticism is welcome.

Love Emmy-chi~


	2. Chapter 1: First Confrontation

Note: Hi!!! I'm back, and reasonably quickly too...I usually take SOOO long to update, but I decided that I'm gonna try not to do that anymore~~~ Anyways, here's chapter one, I'm sorry it's still going so slowly, but I have to ease into the plot or else everything will get confusing. Don't worry, a plot will come into play eventually~ Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own any of the characters in this story except for the ones that you've never seen in the books or movies. Anything else that you don't recognize from the Harry Potter series(like the plot) is mine, but everything else belongs to J. K. Rowling.

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_Your facade doesn't fool me,  
It confuses me  
Why do you hide yourself  
Behind an ugly character?  
-anonymous

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_

**Chapter 1: First Confrontation**

In a tower, up a set of stairs, behind a statue of a dragon, two people stood in an office, silence weighing down the air. There was tension in the air as the female of the pair paced. Finally, turning to the aging man sitting behind a desk sucking on a lemon drop, she crinkled her nose.

"Is it really wise Albus, to bring them together once more?"

The man's hand was extended, reaching for another sweet, but upon hearing her accusing voice, he withdrew it. Turning to her, he studied her before replying with confidence,

"We are in the middle of a war Minerva. If we are to stand any chance of winning, they must be together again."

The transfiguration professor sighed. Shaking her head, she turned toward the door, ready to walk out. With one thin hand on the door handle, she paused.

"I will always trust your judgment Albus, but sometimes I wonder what goes on in that brilliant mind of yours."

His blue eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Brilliant things Minerva, brilliant things."

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Elizabeth stumbled as she attempted to push through the ever growing crowd. She had been in the station for less than five minutes and she had already lost sight of her escort. Around 9:30 Tom had come up to her room to inform her that she had a guest. Knowing full well why she had a guest, she tromped down the stairs with her trunk in tow where she was met with the sight of Nymphadora Tonks, bubble gum pink hair and all. The exuberant metamorphmagus had spared no time for talking and had apparated them to Kings Cross immediately. That was an experience that Elizabeth definitely didn't want to repeat anytime soon.

When they first arrived, the place was virtually empty, but Tonks had warned her that soon enough it would be bursting.

"If you get lost, find the brick pillar in between platforms 9 and 10 and run straight at it. That's how you'll get to the Hogwarts express." She had said, before barreling toward the platforms. Elizabeth had tried to catch up, she really did, but true to Tonks' word the station seemed to fill faster than seemingly possible.

Now she was being crushed by muggles and for all she knew, no where near platform's 9 and 10. Still dragging her trunk, she tried to get a bearing of what was going on beyond the crowd. The method of standing on her tip-toes proving useless, she sighed and sing her elbow, she pushed through to the edge of the crowd. Finally breaking through the mass of people, she panted for a moment, then turned back.

Stretching to see over heads, she saw that platform 9 was immediately in front of her, while 10 was to the left. _I can do this _she thought before breathing in deeply. Letting out a whoosh of air she tensed her arms, then ran at sea of bodies, shoving her way through gaps and all the way to the other side.

When she passed through, a surge of accomplishment ran through her body. Smiling in glee, she began walking briskly, looking for the brick wall that served as an entryway to Platform 9 and 3/4. When she saw the square pillar with a sign for both platforms 9 and 10 on it, she glanced around quickly, making sure that no one would see her, then began sprinting full speed at the barrier. A weird sensation flowed through her as she passed through the illusioned wall and within seconds she heard the trilling whistle of the crimson Hogwarts Express.

When her surroundings came into focus, she couldn't help but stop and stare; it was so overwhelming. She felt her face break out into a huge smile, and was sure that anyone passing by would think she was mentally unstable. Unfortunately, she just couldn't help it. It was like nothing she had ever expected; the atmosphere itself was amazing, and the presence it seemed to reek of was overpowering, in a good way. Elizabeth felt like her entire soul was engulfed in a soft magic casing, it was impossible to describe the feeling of it.

She sighed peacefully, before shaking herself out of her trance and observing the platform itself. There were students EVERYWHERE! All with trunks, some with familiars. Some already in their Hogwarts Robes, most not. Elizabeth looked down at her own muggle clothes, and shrugged. At least she wasn't the only one.

Adjusting her grip on the school trunk, she began moving slowly down the platform, looking for an empty space where she could stop, rest her trunk, and just observe in silence like she was used to. As she walked, her mind started to wander, asking itself questions, and she fell into a half daze, unaware of her surroundings.

_I wonder which house I'll be sorted into...Will I make friends if I continue to be silent? I hope the curriculum isn't too different from Salem Academy...I don't want to be behind. Truthfully, I'm kind of scared. What if no one will accept me? What if they make fun of me cause I never speak, or worse, what if they think I'm stuck up?!?! Dumbledore seemed to understand that I just didn't want to speak..but what about the other professors? What if they try to make me answer? I'm scared._

She was so absorbed in her innermost thoughts that she didn't see the person standing by himself right in front of her. She didn't even realize there was anything there until a few seconds later when she ran smack into him. With a small 'oof' she felt herself fall backwards and flinched, waiting for an impact that never came. Upon realizing that she wasn't falling and that there was a warm hand holding her arm up, she opened one eye, and was met with a pair of concerned shining grey eyes.

Those eyes were attached to an overly pale face with a slightly long nose, a semi-frowning mouth, and a head of messy blonde hair. Elizabeth felt her lips form a small 'O' as she felt her cheeks blush. _I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! _she thought desperately, unable to even try to speak.

"Are you okay?"

He had spoken. With a little tremble, she realized that she was expected to reply. Shooting out of his grasp, she nodded her head yes, and straightened her school trunk. His eyes seemed to relax, and his shoulders slackened.

"That's good, you look kind of addled. You shouldn't space out so much."

She felt her face flush further, and she nodded again. He raised an eyebrow at her, questioning her with his alluring silver eyes.

"How come you don't talk?" He asked, his eyes showing that he was obviously truthfully interested. Her eyes saddened and he instantly held up his hands.

"I'm sorry, if you can't tell me, it's okay. I was just asking, hey don't be sad."

She looked away from him, refusing to meet his gaze, then glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. She tried to tell him with her face "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you." He seemed to understand because he smiled.

"I won't pry in things that aren't my business, but we really need to find a way for you to communicate with me. I'd like to be your friend, but how can I do that if I can't talk with you?"

Elizabeth grinned at him, trying to tell him with her smile that she'd like that, and sub consciously started thinking of ways that they could communicate without talking, on her part at least. She was rudely interrupted by a loud voice from behind them.

"Malfoy! Stop bugging all of the new students! I'm sure that none of them want to hang around the likes of you!"

The nice looking boy in front of her suddenly shifted his expression from a kind, friendly smile, to an unflattering sneer. He shoved his hands into his pockets and started mumbling to himself.

"Great...just what I need... the Golden Trio."

Elizabeth tilted her head. _Golden Trio? _Suddenly, a group of three students broke through the small crowd, and began stalking toward them. They were led by a boy with pitch black hair and emerald green eyes who looked very similar to Elizabeth. Flanking him on the right and left was a taller boy with shaggy red hair and a shorter girl with frizzy brown hair and a shiny badge on her chest. Farther behind them was another girl with the same red hair and freckles as one of the boy coming closer to Elizabeth and the mysterious blond boy. _Probably siblings... _Elizabeth thought before the trio finally reached them.

"Hello Potter," the boy who seemed to be known as Malfoy drawled. Elizabeth frowned at this; what happened to the kind boy she had just met?

"Ferret!" the black haired boy spat. He flicked his head slightly, moving his hair and revealing a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Elizabeth gasped. This was Harry Potter, the famous boy who was causing all the Death Eater trouble in Europe. The rumor in Salem had been that it was all his fault any of the bad stuff was happening at all.

Elizabeth instinctively glared at him slightly, and shifted so that she was closer to standing beside Malfoy. The red head cocked his head and looked at her strangely.

"What're you doing moving closer to Draco Malfoy? Don't you know who he is? He's the resident Death Eater. You want to stay away from the likes of him."

For some reason that Elizabeth couldn't explain she felt angry at the red head's words. Summing up her courage, she pulled out her wand and pointed it at the offending boy. With a shaky breath she opened her mouth.

"What gives you the right to come over here and insult him when from what I've seen, he hasn't even done anything to you yet?"

The entire crowd seemed shocked, but none more so that the boy beside her. His mouth was agape, eyes wide, but then he smiled.

"So, you _do_ talk."

Elizabeth suddenly seemed to realize that she had just shouted that in front of at least eight students who were watching, this 'Golden Trio' and Draco Malfoy. Her eye bulged and she clamped her mouth shut. Tightening the grip on her trunk considerably, she closed her eyes and shoved through the crowd, running as fast as she could away from everyone who had watched the exchange. As she ran, numerous thoughts ran through her head.

_What was that? Did I really just confront someone, in public? I've never done that before...I just felt that I needed to defend _him._ No one deserves to be treated the way those two and Harry Potter were treating him. I had to say _something_! _

With a wild shake of her head, she continued dashing before jumping up the steps of the train two at a time, and settling into a random empty compartment. Breathing heavily, she waited for the train to start its journey, alone and in silence.

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Note: Woo! Another chapter done, Chapter 2 should be up pretty soonish as well. Draco is gonna seem really OOC throughout the story, because I'm making him that way. He's still going to be a first class prat to Harry Potter and his little gang, but I'm giving him a soft side too. Constructive criticism is most definitely welcome, and feel free to point on out any spelling/grammar errors so that I can fix them, Read and Review~

Love Emmy-chi~


	3. Chapter 2: Friends? And Apologies

Notes: YAY!!!! Another **TWO** chapters~ Aren't I great? I mean, I know I'm being really slow on the updates, but I'm trying to make up for it by posting two chapters instead of one in what I like to call.... -drum roll- Emmy-Chi's Two Chapter Special~~~~ I'm so nice n.n Hope you enjoy the next **TWO** chapter, though this one is just kind of pointless...ah well, chapter 3 is better~ Enjoy Part One~

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER!!! That right belongs to the lovely J.K. Rowling.

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_Forgiveness is usually for__  
the benefit of the person__  
being forgiven, but__ sometimes,  
it will help those who are  
__forgiving to see clearer__  
-anonoymous  
_

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**Chapter 2: Friends? And Apologies**

The train had been rattling along now for an hour or so, and someone had yet to bother her. As Elizabeth sat, staring absentmindedly out the window, thoughts of the day's previous events flashed through her mind. It was extremely unlike her to judge someone before ever meeting them in person, but all the stories she had heard about Harry Potter talked about how he was the reason Lord Voldemort was bringing havoc down upon Europe with such force. Voldemort had not yet tainted the U.S, for which Elizabeth was grateful, but there were always whispered rumors of an attack planned for the near future where He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would come west and rally more Death Eaters. Elizabeth had never believed such rumors, but it worried her all the same to think of what would happen to muggle-born Chelsea, her dear friend.

Thinking of Chelsea sent a lone tear trickling down Elizabeth's face, and she wiped it away unconsciously with the back of her hand.

"Why are you crying?"

Her green eyes snapped upward, only to find an unfamiliar girl with a strange pair of glasses on her face. The girl, who appeared to be about a year younger, had long pale blond hair(not as blond as the boy, Draco Malfoy, she had met before), strange glasses covering any view of what colour her eyes were, and was carry a strange looking magazine titled The Quibbler.  
The girl smiled at her, and the dreamy voice from before floated to Elizabeth's ears.

"Are you alright? You shouldn't waste your tears, they attract Tear Lice(**1**), nasty little creatures, they'll suck all the tears out of your eyes so you can never cry again and then when you really need to cry, you won't be able to."

Elizabeth wiped her eyes again, not sure whether or not to believe this strange girl about her so called 'tear lice' and attempted a smile.

"I'm Elizabeth."

The blond girl walked further into the compartment and sat down in front of Elizabeth. Before replying, she took the seemingly paper glasses off her face, revealing curious and wise gray eyes.

"My name's Luna, but everyone calls me Loony Lovegood. Your head is full of Wrackspurts, did you know that?"

Elizabeth gave the girl a strange look, and Luna motioned with her glasses toward her own blond locks.

"My Spectrespects can see them. They're good for things other than reading The Quibbler you know."

Elizabeth nodded and, unsure of what to do next, turned back to the window, flushing slightly and mentally scolding herself. _Nice going! Another person who might want to be a friend yet you refuse to talk to them! Get some courage you coward!_

Feeling determined, she turned back to Luna, her mouth half open, ready to ask about The Quibbler, when another voice cut in.

"There you are Luna, I've been looking for you everywhere. Weren't you going to come sit in my compartment with Me, Harry, Ron, and Hermione? Neville's looking too--OH! Who's this? A new girl? Wait, I recognize you...You were the one who shouted some sense into my pigheaded older brother and boyfriend! I'm Ginny Weasley by the way."

Elizabeth flushed, and stared down into her lap. _All the people here are so assertive. If I want to fit in, I'm going to have to try and be assertive too!_

"Thanks...I guess."

The girl smiles and walked further into the compartment, plopping down onto a seat next to Luna who was now reading the Quibbler upside down with the spectrespects back on her face.

"No problem. Those gits needed to be knocked down a size. They're so bloody full of themselves just because Harry is supposed to defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

Elizabeth frowned.

"But I thought it was Harry's fault that Voldemort is back?"

Luna seemed unaffected, but Ginny visibly flinched upon hearing Voldemort's name, though she tried to hide it. _What's wrong with saying Voldemort?_

"I guess you could say that it's Harry's fault, but it's also his fault that Voldemort was quiet for fourteen years or so. And if you really want to go there, at least Harry is trying to make up for it by working with Professor Dumbledore to figure out a way to defeat You Know Who."

Elizabeth nodded. _And this is why I usually don't listen to rumors or newspaper articles, they always mess up the facts or leave information out._ Then, with a silent groan, Elizabeth placed her head in her hands. _Greaaaaaaat! Now I'm going to have to apologize. I hate apologizing, it always sounds so pathetic when I try to do it._

Across from her, Ginny's eyes widened, and she seemed to be muttering to herself, something about "de ja vu." Then, straightening, she began playing the concerned mother role.

"Are you alright?"

Elizabeth's eyes snapped up to meet Ginny's worried eyes, and smiled.

"Just thinking of the apologies that I'm going to have to make, two of them."

Ginny flashed a smile in return, her worry fading, but then looked confused after a second of processing.

"You don't have to apologize to me, and that only leaves Harry, Ron and Hermione. But why are you apologizing to only two of them?"

"I'm only apologizing to one of them."

"Well, then who else are you apologizing to?"

"Draco Malfoy."

Ginny snorted, and covered her mouth, trying to stifle her laughter.

"You're really going to apologize to Draco Malfoy over Ron and Hermione? What has he ever done to deserve an apology? It's more like he's the one who needs to say sorry!"

Luna's eyes drifted up from the pages of the Quibbler and stared at Ginny.

"Ginny, she's never met the Draco Malfoy you know. If she was willing to defend him, he obviously showed a different side to her. Truthfully, I feel sorry for the boy, with a dad like _that_. It's not like anyone would ever listen to him if he did apologize."

"Well that's true...But think of the things he's said! He insults Harry every chance he gets, calls me and Ron blood-traitors, and he's still using the "M" term whenever he addresses Hermione!"

Ginny wailed in reply, trying to convince her blond friend that Draco was indeed evil. Luna sighed, and flipped a page in The Quibbler.

"Actions speak louder than words." she muttered, staring at the pages distractedly.

Elizabeth watched the entire exchange feeling like an outcast. So, as the flaming red haired Weasley went to reply, she stood quietly, and tiptoed out of the compartment, ready to search for Harry, Ron and Hermione. She would leave Draco for last, she needed to think over her words to him as they were sure to be followed by an awkward silence either way.

Shutting the door as silently as possible(though still not drowning out Ginny's loud voice), Elizabeth spun on her heel and began gliding down the hall, stopping every now and then to check through the compartment windows.

Farther down the aisle was a plump witch pushing a tray, stopping every now and then to call "Anything form the trolley?!" Elizabeth put a small hand into her pocket, momentarily forgetting her quest, to brush her fingers against the small bag of Wizarding coins in her pocket as her stomach grumbled. Just as she decided that she was indeed going to buy something from the snack trolley, she walked past a compartment that made her stomach flip nervously.

Inside was a group of three talking and laughing students. One of them, the girl, sat beside the window, her nose stuck in an extremely thick book, only talking occasionally as her two companions joked about by themselves.

Sitting beside her was an identical copy of Ginny Weasley, spare the fact that this was a boy, and he was obviously more than six feet tall. His blue eyes seemed to be laughing as he listened to what his other friend was saying, while his arm was slung lazily around the bushy haired girls shoulders.

The third in the compartment was an equally tall boy(just a tad shorter than the red head) with unruly pitch black hair, the same as Elizabeth's own, except shorter. His own jade eyes were sparkling with amusement, as the friends continued to banter and tease back and forth.

Gulping, Elizabeth knew she had reached her first destination. Inside was Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, otherwise known as the Golden Trio. One of these was a boy, who happened to look suspiciously like herself, and was to be the receiver of her first apology. Summing up all the courage scattered throughout her bones, Elizabeth slid the compartment door open. All noises stopped as the three inhabitants glanced up at her, solemn expressions replacing the once merry. Elizabeth bit her lip and tried to smile convincingly.

"Erm...hello."

The freckle faced Ron was the first to speak. In accusatory tones, he hissed, "What do you want?"

Elizabeth began to wring her hands, shifting side to side as she tried to think of the right way to get her words out. Finally, coming up with nothing that sounded half-plausible, she decided to just wing it. Letting out a large breath of air in defeat, she began.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I listened to American rumors--which by the way should never be trusted--and began to hate you, Harry, without even meeting you or trying to see if the rumors were true. I shouldn't have shouted at you. I could have said worse things, but I was still wrong to yell. However, you were in the wrong too. You may know a mean side of Draco Malfoy, but the side I got to meet in the five minutes prior to when you showed up today was nothing like what I keep hearing about. I've learned not to listen to rumors, so now that I'm done apologizing to you, I'm going to go apologize to him for running off while we were having a 'conversation.' Sorry to interrupt whatever you were doing."

Refusing to meet Harry, Ron, or Hermione's eyes, Elizabeth quickly sped out of the compartment and down the middle of the train, breathing deeply, and smiling so widely that the corners of her mouth hurt. _Yes! I did it! I got some courage together and told them exactly what was on my mind! Plus, this whole concept of speaking is becoming so much easier! Go Lizzy, go Lizzy, go Li--_ Her thoughts however, were cut off when with a loud crash, she ran into a soft, but solid form for the second time that day, and fell to the floor, landing painfully on her bum. Cringing slightly from the sting in her back side, Elizabeth cracked an eyelid open and once again, green met silver.

* * *

**1**: my friend came up with the name of my made up creature, but I really don't like it. I'm too lazy to think up a better name, so I'd love it if you all could give me suggestions!!! It's just a little thing, but it bugs me SOOOO much! Thanks~

**Notes: **Part One of my Two Chapter Special is complete!!!! Now, you can review if you want, but, if you don't want to, just skip to Part Two~ There'll be a longer note at the end of that one.**  
**


	4. Chapter 3: Meeting the Real Draco

Notes: HERE'S PART TWO OF MY TWO PART SPECIAL~~~~~ By the way, Draco is gonna seem super duper EXTREMELY OOC in this chapter, but if you don't like it, too bad, that's how I'm writing him. Go read a different story!

Disclaimer: Blah blah blah, same as always, I don't own harry potter(wish I did though)

* * *

_sometimes it's necessary to _  
_share those things that lurk_  
_ deep within your soul, waiting_  
_to be released into the light_  
_where they can wreak havoc_  
_or build unbreakable bonds._  
_Sometimes it's necessary to_  
_share them with a stranger_  
_-anonymous_

* * *

**Chapter 3: Meeting the Real Draco  
**

Above her, Draco blinked twice before chuckling and extending his long pale arm.

"This is the second time we've met this way. Do you have a habit of spacing out?"

Elizabeth gulped and took the hand offered to her, allowing Draco to pull her up to her feet. Once she had her balance, she clasped her fingers and made it her personal mission to look ANYWHERE but into Draco's alluring silver eyes.

"Thank you," she murmured, "for helping me up."

He smiled at her, and she couldn't help but look back at his face; it was like some kind of force pulling her to him.

"No problem, it's only proper of me. Nice to see that you're talking now."

"Yes. I've realized that while I'm here I'll need to speak for myself more. My friend Chelsea used to speak for me."

"Why couldn't you speak for yourself?"

She felt her cheeks redden and frowned. _Why does it embarrass you so much that he wants to know about you? Don't just stand there blushing, embrace the situation! What happened to the loud, obnoxious, annoying Elizabeth that was always around Chelsea? _

"I was too shy. But I'm not going to be like that anymore!"

Draco's smile widened, showing pearly white teeth. He raised a hand up to his head, sweeping stray pieces of blond hair out of his face.

"Well then, I think that we should start over, starting with the introductions that we never got around to before." he said, sticking out his hand for a handshake. "My name is Draco Malfoy."

Faking a curtsy, Elizabeth grinned before grasping his hand and shaking it with vigor. "It's a pleasure to meet you Draco, my name is Elizabeth Dratter."

Pulling his hand away, Draco turned to the side, offering her his arm. "M'lady, would you allow me to escort you to a compartment where we can converse? I am oh so curious about you."

Elizabeth put a finger to her lips, mocking the boy in front of her, before deciding to play along with his little act and placing her hand on his arm. "Why thank you kind sir. That would be wonderful. The whole purpose of my visit to this section of the train _was _to see you anyways."

Draco stopped walking, and turned to her, pinning her to the spot with his wondering eyes.

"Oh? And why did you need to see me?"

Elizabeth lowered her head, suddenly fascinated with the carpet below her. It was a deep mahogany red with swirling gold threads, the perfect Gryffindor carpet. Elizabeth hated it.

"I needed to apologize for running off this morning. I'm really sorry. And also, now that I've apologized, I was wondering if you would let me follow up on your offer to be friends?"

Draco stared at her for a moment, truthfully dumbfounded before bursting out laughing. He continued to laugh hard for a few minutes, clutching his stomach and drawing stares from many of the nearby compartments. While he was laughing Elizabeth felt a cold feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. _He's laughing at me. He wont accept my apology. He doesn't want to be my friend. Oh this was terrible idea! Maybe Ginny was right, maybe he is just a cruel person! Though he seemed so nice...and he was playing along pretending to be a gentleman while I was a lady on her way to a ball. Ughhh!_ Finally, after what felt like forever for Elizabeth, he stopped, pausing to wipe tears of laughter from his eyes.

"You really are a strange girl. Were you that worried because you ran off before we got on the train? You don't need to worry at all, I wasn't mad. Well, not mad at you. I was mad at Potter and his gang for interrupting our one-sided conversation, but I wasn't mad at you. More like in awe. you sure gave the Golden Trio a beat down."

_He isn't mad at me? This is great! I was so worried! I dunno why...  
_

"And sure, I'd love to be your friend. Though, I figured that after being in the same room _and_ having a good-natured conversation, it was just a given. I could be wrong though, my only real friend is Blaise Zabini and I take full responsibility for that."

They had reached a strangely empty compartment, and he was holding the door open for her. She scurried inside, sitting down swiftly, and watching as he sat across from her in silence. His eyes had darkened and had a far-off look in them, like he was off in his own little world.

"I should have tried to resist more. It's hard though, when you grow up with Pureblood ways molded into your mind. I realized when I came here, Muggleborns are just as good as Purebloods. Hermione Granger's been teaching me that for the past six years. Father has followers though, my ex-friends. They're always watching...ready to report to him. He wanted to make sure that I 'uphold the Malfoy line' but by following that path I've dug myself a hole so deep that I'm doomed to be the hated Draco-Ferret-Malfoy for years to come after this blasted war. Doesn't matter which side I end up fighting for in the end."

Elizabeth could do nothing but stare. They had only been officially friends for less than a minute and he was already delving deep into his life story. Looking into his eyes, she saw unimaginable pain and sadness, like he had been to hell and back more than once. His body was shaking slightly, and more than anything Elizabeth thought he looked like he needed a hug. Throwing caution to the wind, Elizabeth decided that for once she was going to go with her instinct. Her eyes flicked over his form and noticed that he refused to meet her eyes.

Suddenly noticing that he was going to continue talking, Elizabeth bit her lip, halting her decision to wrap her arms around him, and bringing back the hesitant feelings. He turned his head slowly to look at her, and she almost gasped. His eyes were wet, like he wanted to cry, and Elizabeth knew that this was not someone who showed emotion often, so this was a rare occurrence.

"I'm sorry...I'm not usually like this." He chuckled slightly without humor. "My whole family, a line of emotionless fools. My grandparents dead, my mother a cold woman who refuses to baby her child, me a selfish, arrogant, prat, not affected by anything and my father. Merlin, my father. You know, all I've ever wanted, was to have a family that acted like a real family. A mother who smiled and encouraged me, and someone who acted like a-" his voice began to crack up, "who acted like a real father."

His voice broke at the last statement, and Elizabeth felt her caution fly to the wind. Who cared if they hadn't been friends very long? This boy needed a hug. Pushing off her seat, she rushed forward, wrapping her arms around the blond in front of her, and embracing him tightly, not speaking a word. He continued to shake for a few moment before Elizabeth felt a small wetness in the crook of her shoulder where his face was buried. _He's crying...I don't blame him. He just told a virtual stranger some of his deepest feelings. I guess that's just what you need sometimes. _She shifted them slightly, pulling them both down onto the floor of the compartment and leaning her back against the bottom of the benches. He didn't cry much longer, by while he did, she rubbed circles in his back, a trick that Diana Dratter had taught her while she was still under the illusion that she wasn't adopted.

Once his silent tears turned to slight sniffles, he pulled away from her, wiping his eyes and looking away from her.

"Thank you for telling me that." She whispered, trying to keep things from becoming awkward. His eyes turned back her way, meeting up with her green orbs, and he smiled slightly.

"I believe that I should be thanking you for listening and not judging. The stories that the Hogwarts Rumor Mill will tell are enough to make you hate a person before you even talk to them."

The sparkle was back in his eyes and Elizabeth felt herself extremely elated by this fact. Now it was her turn to steer the conversation away from his past, and onto hers. She could always interrogate him about it later when/if they became closer. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable before they had a chance to get to know each other better.

"Well, since you've enlightened me on a part of your past, I think it's time I told you something about me."

He turned his entire body so he was sitting in front of her, cross-legged, with an expectant look on his face. Suddenly nervous, she started twiddling her thumbs and looked down at her own crossed legs. _Weird...I tend to be doing this lately. Looking down..._

Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Eyes darting up, she was met by a reassuring face, and she instantly felt comfortable. Relaxing her shoulders, she began telling Draco Malfoy all about finding out that she was adopted and of magical descent. He was a good listener, only interrupting to ask important questions that he couldn't suppress, and Elizabeth got the feeling that he was truly interested. For the remainder of the long ride through the Scottish country-side to Hogwarts, Elizabeth sat in a compartment with Draco, telling him her entire life story up until then, and learning some very interesting things about him as well. She never questioned him more about his family life, but she got a very good insight on his life at Hogwarts and the many wrongs he had done, just to please his father and keep himself safe. By the time the Hogwarts rolled to a stop, Elizabeth felt that she knew Draco Malfoy very well, and that he knew her even better. Along with that, she was sure that they would be wonderful friends.

* * *

"...All through the summer I kept getting letters from Crabbe and Goyle about how great it it to be a Death Eater. It sickens me Lizzy! How can they be so comfortable sharing those kind of stories with someone who isn't even one of them? If they really think that I'm ever going to join them, they are so far off the mark they're in the negative numbers."

Elizabeth smiled softly. This was the closest Draco got to talking about his home life, letters from his friends.

"Personally, I think they were dropped on their heads as children. Either that or they've been hit by one too many hexes. You really chose a right crowd to hang out with."

"It's not like I want to be buddy-buddy with them. If I don't father will beat me again."

Draco didn't seem to realize that he had just revealed a fact about his home life, because he kept talking. Elizabeth however, had definitely noticed. Now Draco's voice was tuned out by her incessantly curious thoughts.

_His father has beat him? Obviously on more than one occasion if he said 'Again.' What kind of a twisted evil man could do that to his child! I would hate to have a father like him...Wait, what if I do? I mean, there's always the possibility. Dumbledore refused to tell me my last name and he wouldn't say why, just that it wasn't important now and that it would be later. What if it's for my own protection because I'm the long lost daughter of one of Voldemort's innermost Death Eaters! Dumbledore did say that my parents were dead...but what if my birth parents _were_ part of Voldemort's circle! I can't be a Death Eater's child! There's just no way! Actually...now that I think about it there's actually a high possibility that I am! Why else wouldn't Dumbledore tell me? UGGGHHHHHH!_

"...izzy. Lizzy. ELIZABETH!"

Elizabeth jumped, hitting her head on to the ceiling of the carriage she and Draco we sitting in, and groaned loudly. After she finished rubbing the now aching top of her cranium, she turned to the other passenger in the compartment and glared.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" she growled at the laughing boy across from her. "If you're finished laughing, I suggest you sit up before I hurt you."

Something about her tone must have scared the blond Slytherin, because he was immediately in a seated position, no traces of a smile on his face after her statement. She raised an eyebrow, frown still in place, until her face broke out into joy and she leaned over, patting Draco on the head.

"What a good boy you are, listening to Master's commands immediately! Such a good boy! I'll have to express my gratitude to your trainers." She said in the sweetest voice she could muster. Then it was her turn to fall over from laughter. The now sullen boy scowled at her, before crossing his arms.

"I was just trying to get your attention to tell you that we've arrived at the gate, oh Oblivious One. We're getting off."

Elizabeth blinked before looking out the window and seeing that they had indeed stopped moving.

"You're right. We _are_ here! Thanks for telling me~"

As if nothing had phased her, Elizabeth pushed the door open, knocking over poor Professor Flitwick who had been going around checking the carriages, and jumped out into the night. Letting out a string of tinkling laughter, Elizabeth spun in circles, trying to take in the sights around her all at the same time. Suddenly, she noticed Luna and Ginny walking up toward the castle a few yards away from her. Turning to Draco who was just stepping down from the Thestral drawn carriage (for some reason Elizabeth could see them), Elizabeth put on her best puppy dog eyes.

"Please please please Draco? Can I ditch you and go walk with Ginny and Luna?"

Elizabeth had told Draco how she felt that she could be good friends with the two girls, and surprisingly, Draco hadn't seemed to have a problem with it. She had questioned him about it, and he reminded her about how he was always acting under a facade while he was in Hogwarts. As it turned out, he had never had a problem with Ginny Weasley or Luna Lovegood. And, though he extremely disliked them and claimed that he still would have even if he wasn't pretending to be the good little Slytherin his father wanted, Draco didn't hate the Golden Trio either.

With a sigh, Draco nodded.

"I'm not the boss of you life, Lizzy. It's not like it's my job to go around telling you who you can or cannot hang out with. You don't have to ask me."

Elizabeth grinned and reached up to pat his cheek lightly.

"I know, but I worry about you Draco. If I didn't know that you could go off and find Blaise, I would feel absolutely terrible about leaving you all alone. Goodbye now, i have to catch up with Luna and Ginny before they get to the doors. Some short wizard named Flitwick is going to show me to Dumbledore's office before the feast so i can be privately sorted. Bye!"

With one last glance, she sped off up the hill to her other set of new found friends, smiling all the way. _Being at Hogwarts won't be too bad. Draco said that if we're in different houses, we can have mock fights every day as long as we don't get in too much trouble. Plus, I've got Ginny and Luna as friends. I'll have to write to Chelsea, she'll be so proud of me. Heck, I'm proud of myself! Look out Hogwarts, Elizabeth No-Last-Name-For-Now-But-Will-Be-Going-By-Dratter is here!  
_

Then, talking and laughing with Luna and Ginny, Elizabeth entered Hogwarts through the giant oak doors, unaware of what challenges the future would bring._

* * *

_

Notes: YAY! I updated AND I updated with two chapters~~~ I'm quite pleased with these actually...especially this one~ I know Elizabeth kind of had a character change too, but it's just her opening up to Draco and being her real self~ Hope you guys like it, please review! I love reviews, they make me super happy. But please don't yell at me for taking so long to update! I've been busy, but I got to it when I could. If I really felt that being a slacker, you might not have seen an update for months! Remember, constructive criticism is always welcome, and if you noticed any grammar errors please tell me so I can fix them. My chapters are only briefly spell checked, so there's bound to be some mistakes! Just make sure that if you notice that anything is amiss you tell me~  
Next chapter is Elizabeth's Sorting, and I think we might learn some more about Elizabeth's past. Not sure yet. Though I'm sure all you smart people out there are already working your brains off to try and figure out who her parents are xD (it's not really that hard -_-)

Love always, Emmy~


	5. Chapter 4: The Sorting

Notes: Hi everyone...I'm back, and super duper depressed. I only got one review on my last two chapters, and that's made me really sad. I like this story, so I'm gonna keep writing, but the truth is, reviews are my real motivation. I probably would have taken WAY longer for this update had I not gotten that one review. So I'm begging you guys, please please please, try to review after the chapter! It makes me really happy, and the more reviews I get, the faster I update! Anyways, please enjoy chapter four, where we find out where exactly Elizabeth is getting sorted too. Enjoy xD

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter! All I own is this plot, and even that was influenced by some other stories. Elizabeth however, is mine. I made her up. There might be some other characters just like her in other Fanfics, but I can honestly say that I did not steal her from one of those.

* * *

_I have just discovered  
the truth about myself.  
I haven't decided whether  
it's a good or a bad thing  
yet, though.  
-anonymous_

**

* * *

Chapter 4: The Sorting**

Still laughing from one of Luna's comments on Nargles, Ginny tugged on Elizabeth's hand impatiently. Said dark-haired girl glanced over with her green eyes, raising an eyebrow in question.

"What?"

"When are you going to tell us where you were the _ENTIRE_ train ride, huh Elizabeth?"

"I told you to call me Lizzy! And I'll tell you later, after I get sorted. You promise to love me no matter which house I get sorted into?"

Ginny chuckled slightly while Luna continued to mumble about Nargles. The three girls had only been in each others company again for the ten minute walk up to Hogwarts from the carriages, but it was obvious that they had bonded like sisters. Elizabeth had never felt this way with anyone except for Chelsea. She actually liked it too.

"Of course we'll still love you. Even if you get put into mean and nasty Slytherin. Maybe you can change those guys, make it so they aren't so mean and nasty. You'll probably scare them so much that they'll do anything for you."

Elizabeth hit her red haired friends shoulder playfully.

"Stop it. Just because I can be intimidating when I want to!"

"Oh yes, very intimidating." Luna piped in from behind them. "You scared the bejeebers out of that poor little fourth year when he almost hit you with a Dung Bomb. Your hair was crackling with magic and I've never seen green eyes get that dark!"

"I have." Ginny added. "In the exact same way too. You and Harry look so alike it's creepy. His eyes have the exact same twinkle as yours, and if you hadn't told us a that story about your mom finding out you had magic when you were three, I would have said you were his long lost sister."

Elizabeth's heart jumped slightly, but she also felt a pang of guilt. Dumbledore had specifically told her that she wasn't allowed to tell anyone that she was adopted for fear of....for fear of what? So when Luna had asked about her childhood, she had immediately recited the story that Diana Dratter had always told. It made her feel bad to lie to her new friends, but she wasn't going to break the beloved Headmaster's trust after only a few hours at Hogwarts. But what if what Ginny was jokingly implying was true? She did look almost exactly like Harry Potter except that she was a girl, and his parents _had_ been killed by Voldemort. Elizabeth gulped slightly. The more that she thought about it, the more likely it seemed, but there was one problem: she and Harry hadn't exactly started off on the best of terms.

"Well that isn't possible." Luna cut in, saving Elizabeth from having to speak herself. "Daddy has a friend who works in Saint Mungos, and he told me a story passed on to him from one of his coworkers cases. That coworker was the doctor who helped deliver Lily Potter's baby, and he said that there was only Harry. Of course, he could have been infected by the Flabbergnats. They infect the brain and make it impossible to remember true facts. He wouldn't have been able to tell us his name if he tried."

Ginny grinned, patting Luna's head affectionately.

"Whatever you say Luna, whatever you say."

The three girls laughed loudly together, earning stares from their surrounding school mates, and Elizabeth smiled contentedly. Looking up she saw the warm oak doors that led to the great hall. They were spread open, allowing students to filter through, and over the mass of heads, Elizabeth could _just_ make out four tables side by side and a raised platform with another table. Sighing, knowing that she wouldn't be able to see the interior of the Great Hall for a little while, she turned to Ginny.

"I'm supposed to find a Professor Flitwick. He's going to bring me wherever I need to go for sorting. Could you help me?"

Ginny chuckled, pointing to a hallway to the left where a short man was hopping up and down excitedly, obviously trying to see someone over the many taller students.

"That little man is Flitwick."

Elizabeth grinned and tried not to burst out laughing.

"How does he teach, his desk must be tiny! It's amazing that anyone takes him seriously."

Ginny grinned but Luna gave them a scalding look.

"Hey, that's my Head of House you're making fun of over there. He's quite smart, and _I_ think he looks dignified standing on a stack of twenty books."

Elizabeth snorted, but then sent an apologetic look at Luna when her eyes narrowed, not wanting to anger the younger blond. Turning back to Ginny she said, "Well I'll be off. I'll see you later?"

Ginny nodded but suddenly looked doubtful.

"Definitely if you get into Gryffindor. It will be harder if they place you somewhere else though. You're a year older than us so we won't have any classes together, but you can still sit with us in the Great Hall no matter what house you're in. Luna always sits with me even though she's in Ravenclaw. Plus, Dumbledore won't get mad, he's always been a fan of interhouse unity."

Elizabeth beamed, glad to have found such good friends. Winking, she skipped off toward Professor Flitwick. Turning, she called over her shoulder, "We can make plans sometime! And we can always hang out over the weekend if I'm not in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw." Ginny and Luna waved quickly before disappearing into the surging masses. Elizabeth, grin still in place, stopped in front of the short professor, her medium height towering over him.

His eyes darted across her form, frowning slightly at something, before he spun around and took of down the hallway. "Come, quickly this way. We have to sort you before the feast starts so that Minerva can sort the first years."

Elizabeth had to stifle her laughter; his voice was so squeaky and high pitched that it reminded her of a solo version of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Intrigued by the little man, she followed him slowly, making sure not to walk too fast for his tiny feet.

Finally, after a dozen twisting hallways and a series of moving staircases(these had been the worst part. Elizabeth would have fallen through the gap when one of them suddenly took off had it not been for a warning call from a nearby portrait) Elizabeth and the Charms Professor(she had caught this fact when he was rambling about the different classrooms they passed) came to stand in front of a menacing looking gargoyle. Flitwick chirped out a loud "Licorice Wand" and the gargoyle started to turn, revealing a set of spinning stairs. Elizabeth stepped on warily, and by the time the dizzy staircase stopped at the top, she felt the need to puke. There was no time for that however, as she was shoved through a door and came face to face with the most bizarre room she had ever seen.

There were sparkling, shining silver objects everywhere. Some were spinning, some where making strange noises, others appeared to have no purpose what so ever. There was a large pinewood desk covered with an assortment of papers and quills. Behind it on the wall were moving portraits of all the past headmasters. They were staring at her with their beady little painted eyes, as if trying to measure up where she would be sorted. A set of stairs in the back led up to what Elizabeth could only guess was the Headmaster's private bedroom, and a Phoenix sat on a perch in a corner. Elizabeth was all set to explore the office, but Flitwick led her over to a high-back red chair which she sat in,once again suspicious as to what exactly this sorting process was. Flitwick was mumbling nonsense as he fluttered around the room, looking for something.

Elizabeth only caught a few words, some of which were: "where does he...should...somewhere...harder to find than the penseive...I do hope...hasn't taken it...the first years..." Finally, with a shriek of delight, the professor pulled a ratty hat off of a shelf filled with an assortment of useless looking objects. Hurrying over to where she sat, with a smile on his face, he held the hat out for her to see. It was old looking and shabby in a most disgusting dark green colour. Elizabeth thought it reeked of rotten eggs and instinctively shied away from it. Flitwick seemed not to notice because he was rambling again.

"Oh goody goody! Minerva hasn't come to fetch it yet. We can do this quickly and get you down to see the sorting! Though you might miss it if you don't sprint through the castle. Here, now place this on top of your head and--"

"Wait, what?!" she screeched, cutting the professor off to glare at the hat.

Her nose crinkled and she gripped the arms of her chair, trying to get as far away from the..._hat_...as possible. Flitwick seemed confused.

"Of course my dear, the Sorting Hat will tell you which house you are meant to be in. We must hurry, Minerva needs the hat for the first years."

Elizabeth shook her head.

"There is no way that I'm putting that _thing_ on my head! It looks like a dish rag! Isn't there some other way to sort me?"

The brim of the hat burst open revealing a tongue and a set of teeth. Elizabeth shrieked and fell from her chair, landing with a thump on the floor.

"_A rude one this year, Filius? You'd think the older they get the more manners they've been taught. Now tell me, why am I sorting a seventh year?_"

"Ms. Po-Dratter has just transferred here from the United States." Flitwick chattered. Elizabeth had noticed his mistake though. He had been about to call her Ms. Po-- Ms. what? If it was what Elizabeth suspected, he had been about to call her Ms. Potter.

The hat made a weird motion, almost as if it was nodding.

"_Well then let's get to it, I don't have time to waste my song on only one student. She can hear it at the sorting if she makes it down in time. Come now girl, place me on your head! We don't have all day!_"

Taken aback by the rudeness and bluntness of the Sorting Hat, Elizabeth obeyed, taking the ratty hat in her hands and placing it carefully on her head. The brim of the hat sunk down, instantly darkening her sights and giving her nothing to look at but the inside. Elizabeth got the strangest feeling that she was intruding _inside_ someones soul. It made her shiver uncomfortably

"_Ahhh...What an interesting mind you have. Very intelligent, but not so that you would fit in Ravenclaw. You are very loyal, but Hufflepuff is definitely not the house for you...That leaves Gryffindor and Slytherin...hmm...Very interesting. I sorted your brother you know._" Elizabeth's eyes snapped up under the hat.

_My brother?!?!?_

"_Yes. He's still in the school from what I hear. Honestly, making such a ruckus. In your year too_."

_Who is he!? What house is he in!? What's his name!?_

"_If you do not already know who he is, I cannot divulge what I know. I have been forbidden. I will give you one hint though. He is the only person I've ever given the chance to choose which house he was put in_."

_Where did you put him?_

"_He had to choose between Gryffindor and Slytherin, just as I am going to ask you to choose between the two as well_."

Elizabeth nodded, slightly confused but all together elated that it had been confirmed that she had a brother. _And_ he was at Hogwarts. With a gulp, her face fell as she realized that this knowledge only helped fuel the theory that she was a Potter. She thought she felt the Sorting Hat smile, but swiped it and thoughts of her unknown family away. Now was the time to make a decision: she could choose Slytherin and be closer to Draco, or choose Gryffindor and be closer to Ginny and therefore Luna. Either way, she doubted that she would lose anyone who had recently become important to her.

As she tried to make the decision, thoughts of Harry Potter continued to plague her mind. If the ever growing theory was true, she was Harry Potter's sister and just that fact would lead to a whole bunch of danger. Not to mention that she would probably be expected to assist her brother in any way possible, the brother that would hate her for striking up a friendship with Draco Malfoy(which she fully intended to keep going no matter which house she chose). Elizabeth shook her head slightly. She wanted to help Harry's cause, now that she knew the truth about him, but she wasn't going to throw herself into danger for a brother she had never known. She had made her decision, the best way to avoid Harry Potter and the dangerous life he lived would be in Slytherin.

"_Interesting. Your brother was very clear that he wanted to be anywhere _but_ Slytherin. I will be watching to see how this folds out. One thing is clear though, you my dear girl, have a VERY interesting future ahead of you_."

Then, as if transported back through a time portal, Elizabeth felt the hat slide up on her head so that she could see Flitwick staring at her curiously.

"_SLYTHERIN_!" The hat shouted, before the mouth brim closed, and the hat floated up off her head and over into Flitwick's waiting arms. It nodded to the professor before zooming out a window.  
From behind her, Elizabeth heard gasps of shock from the portraits. She spun around but saw that all the portraits had emptied, except for one. Phineus Nigellus had remained in his frame, clapping wildly. "Well done girl, well done. you will make a fine addition to Slytherin!" Elizabeth smiled, she felt oddly connected to this headmaster. Nodding to him in acknowledgement, she turned back to Professor Flitwick.  
The tiny professor was shaking and frowning, why Elizabeth didn't know. He refused to meet her eyes and shooed her quickly out the door and back down the spiraling stairs, murmuring to himself something about "curious happenings and mysteries that needed to be solved." Elizabeth rolled her eyes and walked briskly, wanting to get to the Great Hall as soon as possible to see the sorting. She wasn't so excited about seeing the vast number of students, but she felt drawn to the mysterious room which had evaded her thus far. Something made her want to see it.

Running down the hallway she stopped short in front of the gargantuan doors, leaning forward to hear Dumbledore's voice. The familiarity of it warmed her, and she got ready to barge in, waiting to see if the the sorting was over. It had taken her long enough to get down, despite running, so she figured everyone would have been sorted. It made her sad to think that she had missed it, but she could ask Draco about it, she _would_ be sitting at his table after all. Suddenly she got a weird feeling that Dumbledore's speech was about to end, so she moved forward, leaning against the oak doors slightly, pressing her ear against the door.

"And now I would like to introduce a new student who will be joining us from Salem Academy of Witch Magic, please welcome Ms. Elizabeth Potter who has been sorted into the Slytherin House."

Whether it was from the shock of knowing that all eyes would be on the door as she walked in, or that she had just had her suspicions confirmed about who her family was, Elizabeth leaned a bit too far forward, causing one of the doors to swing inward, and ended up falling flat on her face.

Now, normally this would be a time when Hogwarts students would burst into laughter, but they were still frozen in shock from what their beloved head master had just announced. Then, with a resounding crack like a whip, the Hall was filled with the whispered gossip of the Hogwarts Rumor Mill.

Elizabeth looked up from her position on the floor and was immediately drawn to the confused and slightly betrayed faces of Ginny and Luna. She sent them apologetic glances, trying to tell them with her eyes that she would explain later. They nodded, but looked away nonetheless. Next, Elizabeth's eyes shifted to the Golden Trio, where one Harry James Potter was staring at her as if she had just turned into Lord Voldemort himself. Elizabeth cringed, turning away immediately when she felt his heated glare, and attempted to pull herself up. Dusting off her knees, she made her way to the Slytherin table, refusing to meet anyones gaze again.

As she neared the table everyone moved down, cutting off any available seats and Elizabeth frowned. Hatred for Harry Potter and anyone affiliated with him was obviously strong here. She quickly put on a straight face again and continued to move down the table looking for Draco. She finally saw him squished between Crabbe and Goyle who hadn't stopped eating to notice what was going on. He looked up at her, begging her with his eyes to forgive him for being stuck between two human lard balls. She shook her head and moved to the very far end of the table, sitting all alone.

No sooner had her butt landed on the wooden bench, the room fell silent again, and Elizabeth felt all eyes on her. She refused to look up though, choosing to stare at her plate instead. Suddenly she realized why everyone had fallen silent. With a light 'thump' two bodies landed on the bench in front of her, and one beside her. Eyes darting up she found Ginny, Luna, and Draco all sitting and smiling at her, piling food onto their plates as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Ginny and Luna looked wary of Draco, but the blond Slytherin simply ate, ignoring their frequent questioning glances. The two girls finally gave up, and after giving Elizabeth a "We'll discuss this later" look, they too became engrossed in their food.

Elizabeth was over the moon. Grinning from ear to ear, she stabbed a potato with her fork, and began indulging in the glorious Hogwarts meal, unaware of the never swaying eyes of three people a table away. The rest of the room however, returned to their meals as well, ready to gossip their hearts off when the feast was over. It wasn't often that something this big came to Hogwarts on the first day; the gossip mill was soon to be running overtime.

A pair of sparkling blue eyes twinkled over half-moon spectacles at the staff table. Albus Dumbledore smiled. Now, all that was left to do was watch, wait, and hope that things unfolded the way he had planned.

* * *

Notes: WOOOO! Elizabeth is a Potter (I wonder how many of you guessed that xD I'd like to hope it was kind of obvious)!!! And she's in Slytherin? Huh! Well i personally like Slytherin, and her being in there ties into the plot! Plus it gets her closer to Draco. -wiggles eyebrows- Okay, that's all I'm saying, cause knowing me I'll go on a long ramble about what's gonna be happening, and that would ruin the surprise.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!!! I like to know what people think, and I can't catch ALLL my errors...IT'LL MAKE ME HAPPY!

Love Emmy-chi~


	6. Chapter 5: Snakes and Lions Unite?

Notes: YAY! Chapter five~ I know it's kind of late ish, but I've been sick again and haven't been feeling well enough to write. I tried but the chapter was really crappy and I would have hated myself if I had posted that. So instead I waited until I was feeling a bit better, and then tried writing again. This still isn't very good but it's WAY better than my first attempt. Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter! That right belongs to J.. Trust me, I've wished time and time again that I owned Harry Potter, but I don't and if I did it would suck~

* * *

_They say that actions speak  
louder than words, but  
sometimes words are louder  
than actions. Then again there  
are always the situations where  
__ neither actions or words are  
the truth  
-anonymous_

* * *

**Chapter 5: Snakes and Lions Unite?  
**

An hour later, Elizabeth found herself sitting on the floor in a dirty, third-floor, ghost inhabited bathroom with a half-glaring girl standing above her. Ginny had both hands on her hips, and was pinning Elizabeth to the spot with a glare so strong yet at the same time not, that Elizabeth wondered if Ginny practiced this look on the many siblings she had. The redhead swiped a piece of hair out of her eyes, and opened her mouth.

"Why didn't you tell us that you were adopted? And my boyfriend's sister no less? That was critical information!"

Elizabeth grimaced.

"I'm sorry, Dumbledore told me that I wasn't allowed to tell anyone for my own safety or some rubbish like that. If it makes you feel any better, I felt so bad when I had to lie to you. I was literally holding myself back from falling to my knees and grovelling at my feet for you to forgive me. And besides, I didn't even know that I was Harry's sister! I had slight suspicions near the end, but i was just as in the dark as you were until Dumbledore announced it to the school"  
Ginny grinned slightly, and sighed, taking a step backward.

"All right, I believe you..."

Elizabeth smiled and went to stand up, only to be forced back down by a freckle covered hand.

"Wait just a second Missy, you aren't going anywhere yet, you still have lots of stuff to tell me."

And so Elizabeth did. She told her friend all about learning that she was adopted and being forced to transfer schools. At this point, Ginny got a frown on her face.

"Does that mean you're sad that you had to come here."

"Not anymore." Elizabeth assured her. This made Ginny smile again, and she didn't butt into the story anymore until Elizabeth got to the part about meeting Draco Malfoy. Her eyes widened in surprise and she stared, open mouthed.

"You mean he was actually nice to you? Wow! I thought you were kidding..."

Elizabeth shook her head.

"He was a perfect gentlemen to me, and I don't know why he showed you a completely different side."

Now it was Ginny's turn to grimace.

"Our families have never been friends in the first place. They're so dark and evil, top supporters of Voldemort. I guess we just figured he would be as evil and cruel as his father so we never gave him a chance to show his real self."

Elizabeth's expression softened.

"He told me that he doesn't hate any of you. Not you, not your brother, not Hermione Granger, and not even my brother."

The last words felt weird on her tongue, but it seemed to soothe Ginny because she shifted her position so that it was more casual and comfortable.

"Harry would never believe it. Hermione might, if she wasn't so dedicated to my lard headed brother. She's liked him for years but he's too stupid to realize. And my brother is so firm set against Malfoy, that no one, not even Merlin himself, could convince Ron that Draco Malfoy might actually have a heart."

"Oh he has a heart all right, a big one. We were joking and laughing, and he told me things, that made me feel so much sadness. I would tell you, but it would be wrong of me. Draco trusted me with his secrets, and I'm not going to betray that trust."

"I think I know why he told you, and trusted you so easily. You've never been to Hogwarts before, so you've never heard what everyone thinks of him. Your opinion of his hasn't become biased and tainted due to rumors and lies. You, if anyone, were the one person who was most likely to listen to, really listen to him, with an open mind. I think it's sweet."

Elizabeth gave her friend a questioning look.

"Sometimes I question your sanity..."

Ginny grinned.

"I'll take that as a compliment, now continue on with the story! I'm impatient to hear what happens next!"

Elizabeth roll her eyes, and continued on, telling Ginny about the first impression she and Luna had made, and apologizing to the Golden Trio. This part caused another outburst on Ginny's part.

"I can't believe my pigheaded brother! He really talked to you in that kind of a voice? Why I'm gonna go up there and give him a piece of my mind. He'll be sorry that he ever messed with Elizabeth Potter and Ginerva Weasley!"

Elizabeth deadpanned.

"Ginny, he technically didn't mess with you.."

"By messing with my friend, he's messing with me. It's all gonna come back around and bite him in the butt one day, I swear to Merlin!"  
Elizabeth shook her head. Ginny could be very enthusiastic about things that she believed in, almost to the point of actual violence.

"Alright then, on with the story."

When Elizabeth told of her game with Draco before apologizing, Ginny laughed, muttering something about how surreal it was to hear about Draco Malfoy playing pretend. Elizabeth cracked a smile too, before continuing on with her story. She told about apologizing to Draco and thinking that he wasn't going to accept her apology. Then she recounted the main parts of what happened over the rest of the train ride. She didn't give actual facts, but she gave general information about what she and Draco had been talking about. Ginny nodded her head, finger on her chin in thought.

"Well that explains where you were for the rest of the ride. Luna and I were worried, but we knew you could be anywhere on the train. Luna had this crazy theory that an infestation of this weird creature had picked you up and carried you away. I disagreed... There's one thing I'm having trouble understand though, you say that Draco told you that he was sick of faking? What does that mean?"

Elizabeth sighed.

"Draco told me that ever since his second year here, he's been faking his attitude. From hearing what I've told you, you understand that he isn't an evil person. I was confused at first too, but then i remembered what happened back at Kings Cross. He was being nice and sweet, but the moment you and the trio showed up, he became cruel and cold. What I think is that your accounts of him being a first class prat are true, but I don't think that's what he really is. He's pretending to be that person because he's scared of his father."

Ginny gasped slightly before her hand flew to her mouth.

"My god Elizabeth, hearing you talk about the way Draco was acting around you...that completely makes sense. I wasn't so sure at first, but hearing all the accounts of what Lucius has done, it wouldn't be surprising if Draco's been acting the way he has because of him. Now I feel terrible. Do you think Draco would accept an apology from me?"

Elizabeth couldn't help but crack a smile again at the strange desperation in her friends voice.

"If I went with you to explain that I didn't spill all of his secrets, I'm almost positive that he'll forgive you."

Ginny looked practically elated.

"I'm very curious to meet this kind Draco Malfoy. I'm only trusting what you say so readily because you sound so sincere, but I really need to see to believe."

"I understand. Would you like to go now?"

Ginny's eyes fell.

"I would, but for one thing I don't know where the Slytherin Common Room is and even if I did, I wouldn't be welcome in there."

"Well I'll just have to drag Draco outside then. Though, that reminds me. I don't know where the common room is either."

Ginny laughed, and stood, holding out a hand to help Elizabeth up too.

"We'll have to make a pit-stop at Dumbledore's office first then."

The two girls exited Moaning Myrtles bathroom, talking and laughing merrily, as if the slight misunderstanding from before had never happened. They made their  
way up moving staircase, following the path that Elizabeth remembered as the way to Dumbledore's office.

"We're out really late, we'll have to be careful not to be caught by Filch, or even worse, Hermione."

Elizabeth quirked an eyebrow.

"Why do we have to watch out for Hermione?"

"She made Head Girl and she's a nut for following the rules. If she finds us out this late after curfew she'll probably hex us, you especially since she doesn't seem to like you much."

Elizabeth made a face and mimed zipping her lips before making a big deal of creeping slowly once they were off the staircase. Ginny had to cover her mouth to stifle her laughter. Elizabeth grinned and leaned against the wall of a corner, holding her hands up at her chest in a fake pistol. She hummed spy music that she had learned from watching numerous James Bond movies with the Dratters, and darted around the corner, only to run into something solid.  
She stumbled backwards into Ginny who had just come around the corner as well, and both ended up on the floor. Above them stood a girl, masked in the shadows, with her hands on her hips. She stepped forward into the moonlight and Ginny gasped.

Above them stood a glaring Hermione Granger, hands on her hips, badge gleaming on her chest.

"You two, stand up. Do you know what time it is?"

Elizabeth and Ginny scrambled to their feet, intimidated by this harsh Hermione. Hermione's gaze fell on them, able to see their faces clearly. She sneered slightly at Elizabeth and turned to Ginny.

"Ginerva! I'm disappointed in you! Out at midnight and with a _Slytherin_." She said the word with such distaste that Elizabeth cringed. This wasn't the girl that Ginny had described on the walk up to Hogwarts, this Hermione was just plain mean.

"100 points from Gryffindor."

Ginny bowed her head in acceptance, but Elizabeth gawked at her.

"Are you really going to take that many points from your own house? And the sister of the guy you fancy, you won't win him over this way, sweetie."

Hermione flushed, but then her anger reappeared ten-fold.

"Don't you ever call me sweetie! 250 points from Slytherin for wandering the halls past curfew and manipulating a younger student to go with you."  
Elizabeth's eyes narrowed, her nostrils flaring.

"That isn't fair! I didn't _manipulate_ her, we were talking in the bathroom and lost track of time!"

"I don't care Potter, you're still out after hours."

Ginny mumbled something that sounded like "And you've never been out after curfew..." but Elizabeth ignored her, seeing red.

"I can't believe you, what is your problem? You don't even know me, but you seem to hate me! I'm your best friend's sister! And don't just say it's because I'm Slytherin, I know that's not all of it."

Hermione stepped forward, her wand held out, eyes flashing.

"How dare you call yourself his sister! Where have you been while he's been fighting Voldemort and risking his life, watching as people around him have family to turn to for a comforting shoulder, but all he has are his friends. We're more of a family to him, and if anything, I'm more of his sister than you are!"

Elizabeth's eyes darkened, and she turned away, looking at the ground.

"Judge me all you want, but until you understand me, don't ever make rash assumptions again. I've heard about you, smartest witch of this age," Elizabeth looked up, her green eyes menacing and filled with rage. "For someone so smart you should think more rationally! I'm not here to fight with you, I'm here because Dumbledore told me to be, and at first, I didn't want to be here at all! Now All I want to do is find my way to the Slytherin Dungeons. So take away points, take them away and put Slytherin in the negatives, see if I care. But do not, come up to me and act all high and mighty when you do not know me!"

Ginny stood to the side, watching in awe as Elizabeth Potter faced Hermione Granger head on, the two nose to nose, both glaring. Hermione humphed and backed down, turning toward the hallway.

"Well then it's a good thing the Head Boy is a Slytherin. I would hate to have to help you find your quarters any more than necessary. Follow me, and Ginny, we'll be talking about this later."

With a clicking of shoes, Hermione sped off down the hall, head held high in the air. Ginny stuck out her tongue and looked to Elizabeth.

"She must really like you."

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows, looking at the redhead in shock.

"Are you kidding?"

"Nope. If she didn't like you, she would have hexed you when you stood up to her like that."

Elizabeth nodded, though still disbelieving, and turned to follow the Head Girl, shaking her head. She would never understand the people at Hogwarts.

* * *

It wasn't much later that Ginny and Elizabeth found themselves standing in front of a portrait of the Four Founders of Hogwarts. In front of them, Hermione bowed slightly to the painting, and whispered "Unity." The portrait swung open, Gryffindor swelling with pride, and Slytherin sulking. As the painting flew past, Elizabeth could have sworn that Slytherin winked at her, but she wasn't sure, because as soon as the door swung open her mouth flew open.

She and Ginny were looking into a lavishly furnished room. It was mostly purple, gold, and silver, but there were hints of green and red as well. Elizabeth had never seen anything like it; it seemed to be a room fit for kings. The main room was giant, with a large fireplace and a dozen or so plush looking couches. There was a table perfect for studying, with a little gas lamp hanging beside it. There were two doors leading into different rooms, and a staircase leading up to what Elizabeth figured were the two bedrooms. She would have spent more time gawking at the furnishings, but Hermione sped right inside, distracting Elizabeth.

"Blaise, you're assistance is needed."

Elizabeth took a step forward with Ginny in tow, leaning into the room. Sitting on one of the couches were two Slytherins, one very familiar. Elizabeth felt her face light up and she rushed into the room, her confidence returning with a vengeance.

"Draco! Just the person I was looking for!"

Draco looked up, in confusion, before grinning when he saw her.

"Hey Lizzy, what did you need me for?"

Elizabeth plopped down onto the couch, squishing the Head Boy, Blaise Zabini into the arm rest. From behind them, Elizabeth heard Hermione mutter, "I thought you just needed to get to the Slytherin Common room..." before footsteps creaked up the stairs. Elizabeth let out a breath.

"Well, now that she's gone, it'll be easier to do this. A friend of mine has something she'd like to say to you."

All three of them looked to the portrait that they had entered through where Ginny was standing, blushing slightly. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, Ginny didn't seem like the type of girl who was embarrassed easily. The Gryffindor stepped forward, twisting her hands around.

"Err..I just wanted to...uh...apologize..."

Draco's face was blank, he turned to Elizabeth, a slight anger in his eyes.

"How much did you tell her?"

Elizabeth leaned back a bit, hands raised in a defensive position.

"I didn't tell her any details, just that you were being nice to me! Oh...and the fact that you don't hate her, Ron, Harry, or Hermione might have slipped out too..."

Draco sighed in aggravation, before poking Elizabeth's shoulder, making her squeak.

"You're so troublesome! Alright Red, apology accepted."

Elizabeth smiled, showing off her teeth. Rubbing her slightly aching shoulder, she turned to Ginny, putting on a teasing half-grin.

"See Ginny, that wasn't so bad was it?"

Ginny frowned and harumphed, moving over to sit on the couch facing them.

"Not so bad my butt. How would you feel if you had to do it?"

Elizabeth's face was passive as she played with her fingernails. Finally she looked up, triumph glowing on her face.

"Ginny my dear friend, I already have. Remember?"

Ginny's flush returned and her eyebrows narrowed. Crossing her arms she leaned back into the purple couch.

"Damn you and your smartness."

Elizabeth laughed and hopped up from the couch, moving over to sit beside Ginny. She snuggled into the comfortable pillows and turned her attention to Draco. Pointing a figure at his companion on the couch, she said, "So this is Blaise?"

Draco nodded.

"Yep, my one and only friend, albeit a very annoying one. You wouldn't imagine how much he was bragging about getting Head Boy. It's all I heard about for a week."

Everyone laughed and Blaise punched Draco's side, fake anger on his face.

"Hey you should feel lucky, without me and my superness, you would be an unpopular little wench," The black haired Italian(**1**) turned to Elizabeth and winked, "I'm the reason he's so popular with the ladies; I've taught him everything he knows."

Draco snorted and stood up, looking down on his friend.

"As if Blaise. It's more like I've taught you everything that I know."

The girls stared, amused expressions on their faces. Ginny turned to Elizabeth.

"Hey Lizzy?"

Elizabeth looked up from the boys bantering, tuning them out. "Hmm?"

"I'm glad I listened to you and apologized. But it's getting really late, and if we stay out too much longer Filch will start sending his devil cat Mrs. Norris around."

The redhead looked genuinely worried so Elizabeth relented with a nod. Turning back to her fellow Slytherins she cleared her throat. They both turned to her instantly, one of them mid punch, the other with arms raised in front of his chest. Elizabeth smiled sweetly.

"As fun as this is, watching you too fight it out, I'm actually here for another reason too."

Blaise lowered his fist, and turned to face them.

"And that would be?"

"Well, at first I didn't know that Draco would be here, so we were coming because I don't actually know where the Slytherin Common room is."

Draco's eyes widened.

"You were gonna bring her to the Slytherin Common room! They would have killed her!"

Elizabeth waved a hand while Ginny looked surprised that Draco was actually concerned about her well-being.

"I wasn't going to bring her inside, I was going to bring you _out._ Sheesh, I'm not that stupid."

Draco shook his head and Blaise chuckled. Elizabeth put her hands on her hips.

"Are you gonna help us or not? I already lost Slytherin 250 points that we don't have. I'm not losing more because I don't know how to get to my room."

Both Blaise and Draco looked at her like she was insane.

"Only 250 points? Wow...Hermione must like you." the said in sync. Elizabeth rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"What is with everyone saying that Hermione likes me! As far as I'm concerned, she hates me."

The two Slytherins and Ginny just shook there head, as if they were dealing with a small child who didn't understand something very simple. Draco looked at Blaise, and the Italian nodded.

"I'll take Ginny to Gryffindor tower and you can take Elizabeth to the dungeons. It'll be better if I take little Red because if we get caught I can just say I'm escorting her back as Head Boy. You and Elizabeth will be fine, I doubt you'll be caught."

Draco smirked wide.

"Yep, the only time I've ever been caught sneaking was last year at Slughorn's Christmas party." Draco shuddered slightly. "I am never going through that again."

"I remember that! Harry wouldn't stop talking about it. He was sure you wanted to spy on him."

Draco grimaced.

"Technically, I was trying to spy on him, but not because I wanted to."

Ginny's smiled faded and she nodded as well. The conversation continued, but Elizabeth was getting restless. She crossed her arms, tapping her feet.

"That's lovely and all, but if we could hurry up? I've suddenly realized that I'm extremely tired!"

They all laughed, and then walked to the portrait. Once outside in the hallway they split ways, Ginny and Blaise heading to the elusive Gryffindor Tower while Elizabeth and Draco were going to the Slytherin Dungeons. Ginny waved goodbye from down the hallway and Elizabeth smiled. Turning to Draco she pouted.

"I really am tired...Carry me?" She put on her best puppydog eyes and when Draco sighed she grinned. Bouncing, she jumped onto his back. Putting a hand up to her forehead as if scanning the horizon she said, "Onward my noble steed!" In response the blond boy carrying her shifted, almost causing her to fall of. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck, and leaned her head against his shoulder.

As they walked, she felt herself growing drowsy. Yawning loudly, she murmured quietly, "You're my new best friend Drake. I hope you know that."

She couldn't tell it, but he was smiling. The last thing she heard before she drifted off into dreamland was, "I know Lizzy. You're my new best friend too." Her face morphed into a soft smile, and her dreams were filled with thoughts of Draco. They hadn't known each other more than a day, but they were best friends. Deep in her heart though, Elizabeth thought that she might possibly wish for more.

* * *

**1**: I know there is some conflict with Blaise. Is she a girl, is he a boy. Is he Italian or something different. In this story he's going to be Italian. I'm sorry if you don't like that, but I can't please everyone D: Please don't leave reviews commenting on this.

Notes: I'm pretty proud of this chapter. I know, I know...I made Hermione really kind of bitchy. I was really trying hard not to do that, but it kind of plays into stuff in later chapters. Don't worry, we'll have our normal Hermione back soon. Please review, it makes me happy~ And **THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU **to all the nice people who reviewed last chapter. I love you all~


	7. Chapter 6: A Sibling's Duel

Notes: Chapter 6~~~ Ou a sibling duel...I wonder who the siblings are... (It's kind of obvious). But yay! Update! With a filler chapter...though semi-important, but still filler~~~ I know, I know...when does the real actiony part of the story start? Don't worry! I'm working on it! I have to figure out how to transition to what happens next and I want to develop relationships more first. I'm planning on a little bit of romance in a couple chapters...and I've got a great idea which will also start in a few chapters. My friend has been begging me to add a Hallowe'en dance but I'm not so sure yet...Review after the chapter and tell me what you think~ For now, enjoy~~~

Notes 2: And just in case it wasn't clear, this story does not follow the books. I may mention or refer to some of the events that happened in books 1-6, but everything after that and some stuff during that is completely changed to suit my needs. Just thought I'd let you know~

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter, probably never will. But if it goes on sale, someone tell me~

* * *

_My internal battle rages  
harder than the cruel words  
and heated glances that I  
throw around so easily.  
-anonymous_

* * *

**Chapter 6: A Sibling's Duel**

A month passed and Elizabeth felt herself shifting into the Hogwarts life. She could recite her schedule backwards and forwards, and everyday had a pattern. She woke up at seven, got ready, and was in the Great Hall for breakfast at 7:45. Classes started at 8:45 and went until 12, lunchtime. Elizabeth had a free period everyday from 3:30 to 4:35 and classes ended at 5, followed by dinner at 6:30. Curfew for the seventh years was 10:30 and the library closed at 10. All in all, it was a rather boring life.

Sure the classes were great, and Elizabeth excelled in them. She had been delighted to find that she wasn't behind, but in fact, in subjects like Charms and Transfiguration, she was actually ahead. Breaks were even better because she could meet Ginny, Luna, Draco and sometimes Blaise outside, and they would talk and laugh like old friends.

Elizabeth just felt like she needed excitement. Everything was too repetitive for her, she needed something new, something surprising. So, as the Slytherin she was, she was determined to shake things up a bit because if she could get what she wanted, she would get it.

So it was that on a particularly dreary Sunday, Elizabeth found herself bored out of her mind, twirling a dandelion in her fingers. She looked up, sweeping the hair out of her eyes, and saw Ginny fanning herself with a text book. Despite it being October already, the air was hot and the sun shone brightly, barely a breeze flitting through the sky.

"Isn't there anything to do in this blasted school? I'm so bored!"

Ginny's eyes flicked over and she sighed, dropping her text-book fan to the grass beside them. She raised herself up, balancing her weight on a single arm, and raised the other to her forehead, scanning the lake.

"There are loads of things to do. It's still warm, we could go swimming in the lake?"

Elizabeth shook her head.

"No, not an option, I hate swimming."

Ginny looked appalled.

"How can you hate swimming? I didn't think that was possible!"

Elizabeth frowned, flushing slightly and pursing her lips.

"It's not that I dislike swimming...I just don't know how..."

Ginny didn't respond for a moment but then she started laughing.

"When did you become such a scaredy cat, so what if you can't swim? I'll get Draco to teach you. Come on, it'll be fun, please?"

Ginny put on her best pleading look but Elizabeth was resilient.

"Absolutely not! There has to be something we can do inside, as far away from the lake as possible! Aren't there any clubs or something?"

Ginny put a finger to her chin, mulling it over. As her red haired friend thought, Elizabeth continued to twirl the yellow weed, engrossed in the fluttering petals.

"Well...there's quidditch, but tryouts aren't until the end of October this year...Merlin knows why. Two years ago there was the DA but that was disbanded and no one ever started it up again. Oh! There is one thing...but I don't think you'll like it."

Elizabeth groaned and pinched her fingers, breaking the delicate stem and letting the plant float away in the light breeze. She turned to Ginny, looking completely defeated.

"I'm up for anything, as long as we're doing something instead of nothing!"

Ginny sighed and bit her lip.

"Alright...there's a dueling club...they meet every Monday. To join you have to duel the president. You don't have to win, you just have to make a good impression. I'm technically a member, but I don't usually go."

Elizabeth's eyes lit up and her mouth widened into a Cheshire Cat grin. She jumped up, pulling Ginny with her, and spun them around.

"A dueling club? Why didn't you tell me? I love dueling! Love, love, love it!"

Ginny grimaced and pulled away from her ecstatic green-eyed friend. She placed a firm hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, halting her joyful display.

"Because the president is Harry Potter. My boyfriend. Your brother."

Elizabeth's face fell and she scowled.

"Great, just great."

It wasn't that Elizabeth disliked her new-found brother, in fact, she respected him quite a lot. It was just that he seemed to dislike her almost to the point of blatant hate. No words had passed between them since Elizabeth's apology on the train, and even then Harry hadn't spoken, but every time they passed in the hall Harry would glare a million daggers as if he were trying to burn her to the ground. At first Elizabeth shrank away from the gaze, but then her Slytherin pride returned and she matched the glance with just as much intensity, though none of the hate.

They sparred in Defense Against the Dark Arts under the watchful eye of Severus Snape, both trying to be the best, even though they were at an obvious standstill. She was much better than him at Charms, Transfiguration, and Potions but he somehow managed to beat her in Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, and Divination. It irked her to no end. And now, she found that he was the president of the dueling club, Elizabeth's one true area of expertise.

Clenching her teeth, she nodded and met Ginny's eyes again.

"I'm going to duel your boyfriend."

* * *

Monday came and at 7:15 Elizabeth sat in her room, staring at the wand in her hand. It was a good wand, it had served her well. Cherry wood with a dove's tail feather imbued in the center. Nobody really acknowledged it, but doves were magical creatures just as much as Phoenixes and Centaurs were. Everywhere they went they brought peace, love and prosperity. To kill a dove though, was to curse yourself to eternal bad luck. Most of them lived somewhere in the middle of a South African forest, in a place where pure magic still existed. Sometimes though, one or two would fly the skies and bring little bits of love and peace with them. The effects of the dove were never very large unless brought on by a large flock of 100 or more.

Elizabeth studied her wand carefully, remembering when it had chosen her in the little wand shop in Wizarding Boston. Now it seemed ironic that her wand was made of symbols of beauty, love, peace, and virtue, while she was in the "sneaky nasty Slytherin House."

Elizabeth sighed. _Slytherin's views are about so much more than blood purity. Sure that's what most people think of when they think of Slytherin, just like Gryffindor is the house of the brave, Ravenclaw the house of the smart, and Hufflepuff the house of the loyal. What is Slytherin? The house of the purists. No. Slytherins are brave, and cunning, and loyal to each other. They have just been thought of as the evil house for so long that they use their bravery, brains, and loyal hearts for 'wicked' things. It's like Draco; it's what's always been expected of them._

She glanced up, staring at the windowless wall, her eyes burning with passion. _But that isn't why I'm in Slytherin. I'm in Slytherin because the most important thing to me is myself. My friends come close second, but I know deep down that I'm the most important person to me, no matter how I act. It may seem selfish and conceited, but it's the truth. I'm in Slytherin because I use my talents for my own amusement. Sneaking around is like a challenge, and in classes I excel because I want to see how far I can go before I crack. My friends are self explanatory, everyone needs a friend to survive. Without friendship, we would all be empty shells going about the motions of daily life. Without my friends I would be nothing. I'm not a Slytherin because of my bloodlines, and it's not because some day I'm going to be an all powerful evil wizard. I'm in Slytherin so that I can make a difference. I'm going to show people that being in Slytherin isn't so bad, and I'm going to start with Harry James Potter. Then I can go about convincing the other Slytherins that they don't need to be evil just because that's what the books say. There are other reasons for being put in Slytherin._

With a new light shining in her eyes, Elizabeth raised her hand, fisting it around her wand and pumping it into the air.

"I can do this!"

She pulled her heavy black school robes off her head, and set about changing into more comfortable clothes. If she was going to duel _the_ Harry Potter, she wanted to be comfortable. She pulled on a faded red T-shirt with the words I Love MA splayed across the chest and a pair of loose Capri Jeans that had a hole on her left knee. She slipped into plain black flip-flops, stuffed her wand in her pocket, and skipped out the door, ready to meet Ginny in the foyer of the castle.

* * *

Ginny smiled and waved, pulling Luna behind her as they ran to meet Elizabeth when she came down the hallway.

"Thank god, I was afraid you were going to be late. That definitely wouldn't have been the best way to try and get into duelling club."

Elizabeth shook her head.

"Yeah right, like I would actually be late to a duel with my beloved brother, pshhh. I've actually been ready for a half hour or so."

Ginny grinned at the excitement oozing from Elizabeth's voice (though her dark headed friend was trying to hide it), while Luna let her mouth spread into a dreamy smile.

"We'd better hurry up. The longer we stand here waiting the more likely it is that we'll be infested by Snaggerwackies(**1**). They'll slow us down so much that we won't make it to anything on time unless we leave an hour early."

Elizabeth's face lit up in glee and she looped her arm through Luna's.

"No one could ever be bored while you're in the room!"

Ginny chuckled and grabbed Luna's other arm.

"Shall we be going them? We definitely don't want to meet those Snaggerwackies."

The three friends laughed together, so loudly that the ghosts floating around in the dungeon looked up in confusion wondering what the noise was, and started for the Great Hall where the dueling club meetings were held. When they walked through the door their laughter stopped and Elizabeth was surprised to find that her heart was beating nervously as she felt the eyes of the few dozen dueling club members. They were all seated at the Gryffindor table, currently set up to look like a dueling platform. Sitting at the end was Harry Potter, eyes cold and hate filled.

Elizabeth felt her fear fade and raised her head, holding it up with pride. Letting go of Luna's elbow she sped up her pace, coming to rest nose to nose with The-Boy-Who-Lived.

"Harry."

"Elizabeth."

Their first words to one another since the train and besides spells directed at each other in class: the other's name. It would have been awkward for them to call each other by their last names like the Golden Trio did with Draco Malfoy, for both Elizabeth and Harry shared the same last name. So for now, they would have to settle with being on a first name basis.

"What do you want?"

"To join the dueling club."

Harry let out a barking laugh and covered his mouth, trying to stifle the mocking chuckles. Elizabeth felt her anger growing. He didn't think she was good enough to join the dueling club? She would show him.

"I don't know if you've realized, but look around. Do you see any Slytherins?"

Elizabeth's eyes darted around and her face fell. There were no Slytherins in the room beside herself, only Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws. Elizabeth turned back to Harry and saw his eyes, laughing at her, full of triumph. She growled low in her throat and then smiled sickly sweet, the face having become one of her specialties.

"There's always time to try something new."

"I'm not letting a slimy Slytherin into the dueling club."

Elizabeth felt her anger growing and she stood up on her tiptoes, bringing their faces closer together.

"Listen! You have no right to discriminate against me because I'm a Slytherin! Just because I was put in the house of snakes doesn't make me a snake too. Slytherins only act the way they do because the other three houses expect them to! They do it because that's how they've always been told Slytherins act. Just because I'm a Slytherin doesn't mean I'm destined to kill you in your sleep as a Death Eater! You can get into Slytherin for other reasons too. And from what I hear, you could have been put in Slytherin too."

She whispered the last sentence so that only Harry could hear. His eyes widened in shock and he hissed, making Elizabeth laugh silently at the irony of him sounding just like snake.

Harry sighed and straightened, glancing around the room looking for approval. No one moved. He was the president, so it was his decision.

"You can believe what you want about your silly House members, but alright, I'll give you a duel. You have to beat me though, or else you're out."

Elizabeth nodded, but down the table Ginny gasped and ran forward.

"Harry that isn't fair! Nobody else who wanted to join ever had to beat you!"

Harry sneered slightly.

"We'll just have to make an exception for the Slytherin. It'll take a lot more for her to impress me."

Ginny placed a hand on Harry's arm.

"Don't let a stupid house rivalry impair your judgment! This is Elizabeth, your sister. So what if she's Slytherin!"

"She's stealing you away from me!" Harry shouted, making the crowd flinch slightly. Ginny's eyes hardened.

"You should know that you'll never lose me, not as long as you're yourself. The only way I'll ever leave is if you let this petty hatred continue to get to you."

"My decision is final, Ginny sit down."

Ginny opened her mouth to retaliate, but Elizabeth stopped her.

"Listen to him Ginny, he's the president. Don't worry about me, I have no intention of losing to this boy after he insulted my house."

Ginny's eyes welled with prideful tears and she turned to walk back to her seat, shooting a scathing glance at Harry as she did so. His eyes had softened, looking apologetic now, but the angry fire returned as soon as Ginny was back in her seat.

"So, you will duel?"

"Of course I'll duel dimwit, that's why I'm here isn't it?"

Harry nodded and motioned to Ron.

"Alright sister, I accept your duel, get ready to lose to your superior brother. Ron will serve as judge."

As the food-loving Weasley clambered onto the stage, Elizabeth halted him with a hand, her eyebrow twitching in annoyance. How dare the arrogant fool think he was better than her, just because he had "defeated" Voldemort when he wasn't even two and hadn't died yet since then!

"I don't think so Mr. Chosen One. Ron is one of your best friends; his judging will be biased. I want a Ravenclaw judge, they aren't intelligent for nothing. A duel with one of them as a judge will be fair."

Harry sighed in aggravation but consented, calling a fourth year Ravenclaw up to the platform. The sandy haired boy nodded when Harry asked him if he'd referee, and jumped off the table, moving to stand beside the center.

"Opponents, please take your places. Draw your wand and bow to your partner. Now turn and move to your starting places."

The two complied, stepping toward each other in the center of the table holding out their wands. They both bowed stiffly and stood abruptly, spinning on their heels and walking to their specified sides of the dueling zone. They waited patiently, the audience watching with bated breaths in the suspenseful moments before the duel began.

"Begin!"

Harry turned around first, spinning so rapidly that he looked like a spinning top, his wand pointed at Elizabeth's back.

"_Expelliarmus_!"

Elizabeth grinned slightly as she turned; she had faced this type of dueller many times before. They thought they could disarm her right at the beginning and then take her down without time to break a sweat. _Ha! Not gonna happen. Watch out Harry._

"_Protego_!"

Elizabeth's wand came up just in time to block Harry's spell, and her protective shield was so powerful that wind was sent backward, making Harry wobble slightly. He narrowed his eyes and stood upright again, cursing her under his breath. He immediately raised his wand again, ready to send another disarming spell, but Elizabeth was too quick. She flicked her arm up and a spell shot at Harry so quick and smoothly that he barely had time to switch to _Protego_ and block the attack. Then he was in the offensive again.

"_Flipendo_! _Stupefy_!"

She dodged the first jinx and blocked the stupefy with a hastily murmured "_Ennervate_." She knew the tactic. Use _Flipendo_ to knock your opponent down and then stun them. She had known what Harry was going to do the moment he had sent _Flipendo_ speeding her way.

They continued to duel, colourful spells and jinxes flying back and forth so fast that no one could tell who was shooting what. The flashes of light were so powerful and bright that half the audience had transfigured everyday items in their pockets into makeshift sunglasses. Elizabeth smirked slightly at this, but didn't have time to contemplate it as the duel was intensifying even more by the second. Both parties continued on, shouting words that half of the bystanding audience had never even heard before. It continued on endlessly, never stopping until both opponents were sweating slightly and panting.

Harry raised his wand slowly, ready to go back to his first spell, good ole' never failing _Expelliarmus_. Elizabeth watched the word form on his lips and knew what she had to do. As he shot the spell at her chest and belly she ducked to the side, avoiding his attack entirely. She quickly shot a stunning spell at his feet, which he was quick to block. Then, before he could register, she shot another, more rapid flying _Stupefy_ at his upper body. He had no time to react, the spell rocketing at him so fast before hitting him square in the chest. He was knocked back, landing in a heap at the edge of the platform, causing the audience to gasp in shock. Elizabeth wasn't done yet though.

She rushed forward as far as she was legally allowed on the platform and raised her wand. Some of the crowd flinched, wondering if she was about to let hell loose, but she was simply securing her win.

"_Accio Wand! Petrificus Totalus_!"

Harry's wand flew into Elizabeth's hand and his body grew rigid. The room fell into an uncomfortable silence as Elizabeth stood on the stage, breathing heavily, her body heaving, holding Harry's wand, with their beloved Golden Boy laying meters away, paralyzed.

The silence didn't last very though, for as soon as she had gotten over her shock, Hermione leaped onto the stage and rushed to Harry's side, kneeling beside him. She quickly muttered the counter curse to Elizabeth's body bind, all the while, shooting daggers in Elizabeth's general direction. Elizabeth stood their, shifting on the balls of her feet uncomfortably, waiting for Harry to come to.

When his arms fell slack and his breathing was obvious again, Elizabeth let out a whoosh of air that she didn't know she had been holding.

Harry sat up groggily, Hermione holding him up with a hand on his back. His eyes looked around blearily, until they landed on Elizabeth who was standing to the side, biting her lip. He looked into her eyes and for the first time Elizabeth realized just how similar they looked. His emerald eyes held an emotion that Elizabeth wasn't sure she was seeing. She blinked once, twice, but then had to admit that it was there: respect.

He nodded and tried to crack a smile at her, to the obvious shock of Hermione who was supporting his weight and Ron who was sitting beside him.

"You're in. And...I'm sorry. For thinking that I was better than you just because I'm the Boy-Who-Lived..."

She hadn't expected an apology, but at the moment, she didn't really care. She more excited over the fact that she was in the dueling club. She dropped Harry's wand and rushed forward, falling to her knees beside Harry. That was the first time she hugged her brother.

* * *

**1**: any creatures that you don't recognize are courtesy of my friend Bailey. I gave up trying to make them myself... xD.

Notes: This chapter is okay...Word was being a jerk and deleted my duel scene a couple times, so the one I have here isn't nearly as cool as it was the first time I wrote it, sorry D: But other than that, I like this chapter~~~My friend's friend edited it for me, and I'm really thankful for that~ She also told me that she LOVED my story and I was all "Ego boost~" It was great...ANYWAYS, hope you liked this chapter too~ Reviews = Love and faster updates (unless I get writer's block which happens a lot with me but don't usually last very long) so REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!

Love Emmy-chi~


	8. Chapter 7: Plans Gone Awry?

Notes: I AM SO SORRY! I know I haven't updated in forever o.o BUT I HAVE AN EXCUSE! And I put up a notice on the story that said I wouldn't be updating until today...so no complaining! I have literally, been up to my eyebrows in school work for the past like...three weeks o.o I HATE THE END OF THE YEAR! Stupid teachers try to cram everything in. Like the other day I spent 3 and a half hours straight, typing a project for one of my classes. Almost 4 solid hours sitting in front of the computer!(though that's not as bad as my friend who spent like, eight hours o.o) I could hardly move my legs afterwards! BUTTTTT Here it is~ Chapter 7~~~ It's only filler...but I need to transition into stuff that takes place in the next few chapters~ Sorry not much is happening...Onward my readers! Scroll down! Hiya!

Notes 2: BTW! I had to change my penname because my friends sister had a REALLY similar one, and I was being confused as her...so I changed it~ Just in case you didn't know...I'm sorry if it complicates things for anyone D:

Disclaimer: Nothing has changed, I STILL don't own Harry Potter

* * *

_With you, things didn't work  
out how I thought they  
would, but that's not so bad.  
Now, whole new possibilities have  
opened up  
-anonymous

* * *

_

**Chapter 7: Plans Gone Awry?**

Dumbledore sat at his desk in his office, his form much too stiff for the Dumbledore we know. Almost hesitantly he glanced up, his eyes lingering on the empty portraits behind him. Looking relieved that every single portrait frame was empty, he cautiously slid open one of the drawers on his desk.

His frail fingers pulled out a small, yet thick, gold trimmed box. He held it gingerly, cushioning it close to his body. With one last paranoid glance around, Dumbledore opened the golden lid, his face suddenly aglow with a pale, blue light. Within the box was a tiny sphere, made of clear glass. Inside the tiny ball was swirling blue mist, twisting and turning, holding secrets deep within.

Dumbledore smiled a sad smile. He knew the secret of this tiny orb, for he had been lucky enough to be there when Sybil Trelawny spoke the prophesy that rested within it. He had also been there when the fake prophesy was made, the prophesy that one Harry Potter had heard two years ago in the Hall of Mysteries.

Now, in his hands, Dumbledore held the true prophesy. Oh, it still involved Harry, but now that Elizabeth's identity had been revealed, she needed to be brought onto the playing field as well.

Dumbledore chuckled. His thoughts had called this war a playing field, as if it were a mere game. You could think of it that way, but it was so much more than that. A war is never simply fun and games. It is death and bloodshed, triumph and failure, secrets and betrayals, justice and injustice, good and evil.

With a tired glance, Dumbledore looked out his window to the horizon. Any minute now he would be receiving the owl confirming a visit in November from an old friend. His eyes gave off a delighted twinkle as a tiny speck became clear on the horizon. Dropping the orb back into it's box, and then shutting the box with a little thud, Dumbledore rose to greet the most likely exhausted bird.

* * *

No sooner had Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Harry, she was off again, standing back, her eyes wide in terror. She knew that they were siblings, but they weren't on the best of terms. Was it alright for her to hug him like that? She tried to reassure herself, repeating over and over again in her mind that it was just the excitement of being accepted into the Duelling Club, but deep down she knew it was something more; a haunting urge to be connected to her brother. Ever since she had found out they were twins, she had felt it: the mysterious force that pulled her to him, even though, as a Slytherin and a Gryffindor, they were supposed to be enemies.

She shuddered, backing away from him, his identical green orbs just as large. Beside him, Hermione looked, for once, completely befuddled. The brunette glanced at Harry, as if silently asking him how she should react to the present situation. Harry didn't answer, his eyes were locked on Elizabeth, watching as she moved backward. On his other side, Ron was glaring daggers. He had obviously not forgiven her for "taking Malfoy's side" the very first day, as Ginny had quoted to Elizabeth three days ago by the Black Lake.

Elizabeth looked around her, noting the expressions of everyone else in the room. Luna was staring off into space as was usual, and Ginny had a wicked glint in the corner of her eye for some reason or another, but other than that everyone had similar looks of surprise plastered across their faces. Elizabeth gulped and straightened, unwilling to show her discomfort. Instead, she nodded to Harry.

"Thank you. I'm sorry about that, my excitement took over my actions. It won't happen again." she mumbled in an overly formal tone, and then, ignoring the heated glare from Ron, the confused look from Hermione, the curious glance from Harry, and the passive expressions now adorning everyone else in the room, Elizabeth walked stiffly out of the hall, cutting through the heaviest awkward silence she had ever experienced.

* * *

"You were amazing Elizabeth! You should have seen Harry's face when you beat him. He was so confused; Hermione's the only person who's ever beaten him in a duel you know. And then you hugged him afterwards when he let you into the club! It was so sweet; you actually looked like siblings for once. Such a pity you chickened out in the end and left. Gosh, this situation is so confusing. Are you on good terms with Harry, or are you two still at odds with each other? I know Ron still detests you; it's all he talks about! After you left he was all on Harry about how he should have cursed you for touching him like that, but Harry just brushed him off, and boy, that made him so mad! Hermione was more confused than I've ever seen her. I know she respects you, but she's head over heels in love with Ron, so who knows which side she'll take..."

Elizabeth allowed Ginny to rant while she spaced out, her mind in unknown places. The pair, along with Luna who had yet to contribute to the conversation, was walking briskly through the halls of Hogwarts, each holding a satchel filled with schoolbooks for their next class. Elizabeth was headed to Transfiguration while Luna and Ginny would be leaving in a moment to head down the stairs to the dungeons where their potions class was located.

They reached the arched entrance to the dungeons and Ginny and Luna parted with brief goodbyes and promises to meet later. Elizabeth nodded, not really hearing what her friends had said; she was still mulling over what had happened at the Duelling Club two days ago. Since then, she had seen Harry what felt like every other second, but he had refused to meet her gaze. Now she had Transfiguration with the Gryffindors, and McGonagall had assured them last class that they would be working with partners today. Since the Transfiguration professor was a big fan of house unity, Elizabeth figured that this was her best bet to start getting on good terms with Harry Potter. They were twins, and she definitely didn't want to fight with him forever.

Her plan was, if they were partnered together, to get them fighting somehow. As long as he acknowledged her existence, she would be fine with anything. If they weren't partnered together, she would find some way to butter the Transfiguration teacher up. Everyone knew that under her strict exterior, Minerva McGonagall was actually a softy.

Suddenly realizing that she was approaching the Transfiguration hallway, Elizabeth tried to finish up her train of thought. Then she noticed a threesome coming down the opposite side of the hallway. Quickly, she shoved her thoughts from her mind, speeding up her pace just a little bit so she could get to the door at the same time as them. She bumped into a small second year Gryffindor on the way, but murmured a quick "Sorry," and continued forward, landing in front of the door beside a now slightly ruffled looking Golden Trio. They recovered quickly, however. Harry chose to simply ignored her presence (as was now usual), walking quickly into the room, while Hermione nodded slightly and Ron shot daggers at her with his clear blue eyes.

Elizabeth shrugged to herself and followed her brother and his two best friends into the room, passing their table and plopping down into the seat next to Draco Malfoy. He glanced at her and smiled before turning his gaze back to the front of the room, the signature smirk returned to his features. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and pulled out her books, waiting patiently for McGonagall to start the lesson.

Finally, once all the seats were filled, McGonagall cleared her throat.

"Good morning students, would everyone please pass their essays on the proper techniques of animal transfiguration to the front?"

There was a shuffling of papers as people passed their essays forward. Elizabeth grinned down at her own essay, which was half a foot longer than the required length. Her grin faded slightly however as Hermione passed her essay forward into Elizabeth's hands, and Elizabeth saw that it was at least three and a half feet long. She shoved it forward, just a little bit forcefully, but then remembered that she wasn't the smartest in her class anymore, and that she didn't need to be. What did it matter if other students were working harder than her? Feeling slightly stupid and just a tad embarrassed, Elizabeth sank down into her seat, trying to hide her now red, flushed cheeks.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her out of the corner of his eyes, but she shook her head, telling him without words that it was nothing. He looked like he wanted to pursue the subject, but was cut off by McGonagall rapping her wand against her desk.

"Alright, I'll take those essays. Thank you Mr. Finnigan, Ms. Brown, Mr. Zabini, Ms. Greengrass." she took the papers from each row individually and set them aside, then shifted the spectacles on her nose, and fixed the class with a steady look. "Now that, that's finished, as I told you last class, today we'll be working with partners. Your assignment is to do a simple clothing transfiguration. For example..." The professor flicked her wand toward Neville Longbottom who was sitting in the second row of desks. His knit pullover was instantly transfigured into a handsome looking, black, silk vest.

Everyone made sounds of awe and Professor McGonagall looked quite smug with herself. With another flick of her wand, Neville's vest was gone, replaced by his ratty sweater. He looked quite put out that he would no longer be wearing the dashing, silk vest, but McGonagall ignored this, choosing not to pity him, and turned back to the rest of the class.

"I would like you all to attempt this. You must picture the changes you want to make, and flick your wand at your partner in this pattern, no incantation is necessary(**1**)."

She showed the class the correct wand movement, and once satisfied that they would not mess it up, continued speaking once more. "You will have half an hour to practice on each other, and then some of you will be demonstrating for the whole class. I will _not_ tolerate any childish transfiguration, do you understand me? You are in your Seventh year, and should be responsible enough to make mature choices. That means nothing juvenile, and no nudity!"

The class nodded in understanding and the professor started rattling off a list of partners.

"Zabini and Weasley, Granger and Greengrass, Crabbe and Brown, Finnigan and Parkinson, Malfoy and Patil, Longbottom and Goyle, Potter and Potter."

Elizabeth did a mental fist pump as she stood with her books and moved to sit beside Harry. He didn't even try to hide his displeasure, instead frowning heavily and refusing to look at her. She shook her head at him, already planning how she was going to "change" his clothes.

Across the room, Draco, who was sitting next to his partner Parvati Patil, raised a thumbs up at her. After the duel and collecting her thoughts, Elizabeth had gone straight to him, telling him about her almost obsessive need to find out whether she and her brother could at least be friends. He had looked a bit wary at first, but was overall supportive, after making her promise once again not to reveal his secret. She smiled at him now, and then turned her attention back to Professor McGonagall who was having trouble getting Goyle to agree to working with Neville.

Finally succeeded in making the bulbous boy sit next to Neville who looked thoroughly terrified, McGonagall straightened her glasses, which had tilted to the side, and faced the class. She called for everyone to stand up and away from their desks. Once the students had done so, she pushed all the desks to the side of the classroom with a quick sweeping motion to each side with her wand.

"You may begin." she said, in a particularly monotone voice.

Elizabeth moved so that she was face to face with a still frowning Harry. Her eyebrows furrowed, annoyance obvious on her face.

"Shall I go first?" she asked, through slightly gritted teeth. He shrugged and she took it as a yes. It was time to show Harry Potter what humility felt like (not that he hasn't been humiliated before xD). Right now, it was her best idea of how to get him talking to her. Elizabeth shut her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could. Suddenly there was a light puff, a moment of silence, and then the entire room was filled with mocking laughter.

Elizabeth peeked an eye open, her mouth turning upwards in mirth. She had refused to listen to McGonagall's instructions of "no childish transfiguration" and now Harry was standing before her in a large, fuzzy, purple bunny suit with matching ears, wearing a bright pink tutu around his waist. It helped that Elizabeth had learned clothes transfiguration two years ago at Salem Academy.

Harry looked down in horror, his eyes growing wide. They shot back up at her, now a fiery green in color. Elizabeth smirked, waiting for whatever he was going to throw back at her. She watched as Harry trained his eyes on her, never blinking, and suddenly she felt a whoosh as her clothes morphed.

She glanced down and rolled her eyes; couldn't Harry think of anything a little bit more original? She was dressed in a bright, rainbow colored suit with bright polka dots all over it. The headband she had been wearing had been transformed into a bright red wig, and her conservative Mary Janes were giant tie-up shoes. She had been made a clown, literally.

With a huff of mere annoyance, she pointed her wand at Harry, well aware of the stares they were attracting from everyone. She was just about to flick it and turn his bunny suit into a bright yellow fat man suit, when McGonagall intervened.

"Stop it, Elizabeth lower your wand. This is _not_ what I expected from you two! I will not have you continue this utterly idiotic and juvenile display! 10 points each from Gryffindor and Slytherin, for pure childish behavior. Now sit back down, you will not be participating in the rest of this activity." The angered professor levitated two desks to a corner of the room away from all the other students. She gritted her teeth and glared at the two siblings who had yet to move. "Sit!"

The commanding voice sent both Potters scurrying for their seats. Harry slumped into his, head resting against the desk, while Elizabeth simply sat upright, glaring at Draco who was laughing silently at her. Neither of them had thought to transfigure their clothes back, and neither of them felt like changing them back now.

"You didn't have to start that you know!" Harry began their conversation with an accusation, trying to fill in the awkward silence. Elizabeth smiled despite his tone.

"It was phase one of my plan! Though it didn't quite work out the way I wanted it to, I was hoping McGonagall wouldn't intervene until we started yelling at each other."

He gave her a look that plainly said that he thought she was crazy.

"Why would you want to do that?"

Her smiled faded and she put her elbows on the desk, hands cupping her chin.

"You haven't even looked at me since the duel. I figured you yelling would be better than you ignoring me completely. And it's not like I could just walk up to you and demand to know why you were ignoring me. We aren't friends, or at least, I don't think we're friends, though I want to be friends because you're my brother.

"Anyways- we aren't friends, and we aren't enemies either even though we're in rival houses, so technically you have every right to ignore me! But I don't want you to ignore me, because I'm your sister, and your my brother, and even though it's okay for us to fight it would be really, really sad if you hated me and I-" She cut herself off, knowing that she was spurting her own worries more than reality. She had mapped the whole little speech out in her head, but when the time came to speak, she just went off in her own direction after the first few sentences. She glanced up, wondering how Harry was reacting.

He was giving her a funny look.

"You thought I hated you?"

She nodded, knowing her intense worry was flashing across her features. He made a little movement, as if confirming something to himself, and Elizabeth's hopes plummeted.

"Well, I thought I did at first. I mean, you were supposedly my sister, but you were friends with Draco Malfoy and not to mention a Slytherin! But then I remembered when I got sorted in First Year; the Sorting Hat wanted to put me in Slytherin. It was kind of unnerving though: in under a day you had gotten so close with Ginny and Luna, both of whom are very close to _me_. I was afraid that you were just using them to get closer to me, but what else could I think? My only impressions of Slytherins have been bad ones.

"Then I saw you helping a First Year. He was small, and a Hufflepuff. Any of the Slytherins I "know" never would have done that. He was lost, looking for the Great Hall, and you told him that it was okay because it was your first year here too, then you brought him to the Great Hall. I knew then that you weren't a bad person, but I told myself that I wouldn't associate with you because you were friends with Draco Malfoy, my arch enemy. I figured that the side of you I had seen helping that Hufflepuff, wasn't the real you, because how else could you be friends with Draco Malfoy? But when you were with him, he would crack a smile, a _real_ smile! It was like you had melted his cold, evil heart. Then around me, and everyone else, he's a right prick. It doesn't make any sense!"

Harry seemed to trail off, lost in his thoughts, and Elizabeth grimaced. Draco still had her locked in a promise that she wouldn't tell anyone else about his facade, but this was the perfect opportunity! The only problem was, would Harry believe her? And if so, would it hurt his and Ron's friendship? She knew Hermione was rational; with a little proof, she and Harry could be swayed, but Ron was so thick headed. Elizabeth wasn't cruel; she wouldn't jeopardize the strong friendship of the Golden Trio for her own selfish wants.

Then a thought hit her: she was a Slytherin, she put herself first. She sent a quick glance in Draco's direction, smirking slightly as she saw that Pavarti had charmed his pants into a kilt, before thinking, "Sorry Draco, it has to be done." She gulped a little, realizing that her best course of action would be to tell Harry _everything_, even the things she hadn't told Ginny. Draco might never forgive her... She spun back around in her seat, throwing cautioning thoughts to the wind, and turned to Harry (who had come out of his reverie), grinning at him like a madman.

"I'm going to tell you something Harry, and you have to believe me because it's the god honest truth."

Harry's eyebrows arched in confusion, his brain trying to process what it could be she was about to reveal to him. Elizabeth's grin grew as a new plan formulated in her head. She was about to make waves at Hogwarts, and, if everything went to way she planned, some house unity too.

* * *

**1**: I'm not really sure if clothes transfiguration spells have ever been mentioned (or something like them), and if they have, I don't know if they need a spell or not, and if they need a spell, what it would be. So for this story, there is no spell.

Notes: I know, I'm evil, cutting it off like that (and so short too D: ), but it just felt right to end it there! No need to worry my friends, this story is now top priority seeing as it's summer~ you'll most likely have an update real soon(I've actually already started on the next chapter)~ I've got lots of action and stuff (and maybe a little romance?) coming up, so be excited! Thanks for reading, now review please xD

Love Snowflake~


	9. Chapter 8: Consequences

Notes: Woot! Two chapters in like, two days xDD I'm on a roll~ I didn't think this would be ready until later, but I was wrong! I didn't get my friend (and/or possibly my friend's friend?) to spellcheck it this time cause I really wanted to post it~ I REALLY like this chapter, even though not much happens overall. I hope you guys like it too~

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Harry Potter, that right belongs to J. K. Rowling~

* * *

_You may not like my actions,  
but just know that my actions  
always have a purpose. And  
right now, my actions are for you  
-anonymous_

* * *

**Chapter 8: Consequences**

Harry stared at Elizabeth in disbelief after she had finished her tirade, and she cleared her throat nervously. He then looked quickly back and forth between Draco and her, his eyes filled with confusion. Finally he stopped on her, their eyes locking. His eyes were firm, and she knew that this was him trying to decide whether he believed her or not.

"Are you _positive_ about him, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth nodded with vigor, fear still creeping its way around her heart. What if he didn't believe her? She would need to get proof, she would need...

"Absolutely." she said with absolute conviction. Harry sighed and looked away from her once more, his eyes spaced out in the far recesses of his mind. Elizabeth wished, not for the first time, that she knew Occlumency.

"I'm going to need some time to think about it..." he muttered, and the conversation was instantly over.

Elizabeth sank down into her seat, heart heavy, and gears whirring. She was now wishing that she had never opened her big fat mouth in the first place. Sure, there was an unspoken agreement that she and Harry were practically buddies now, but she had exposed Draco's secret in the process.

Her eyes scanned the room, never resting on one place for too long, until her green orbs landed on Draco Malfoy. Her gaze instantly softened as she saw him trying not laugh as he and Parvati continued transfiguring each others clothes. To laugh would be to ruin his reputation.

Elizabeth felt guilt wash over her, gnawing at her conscience. "_You shouldn't have told Harry!_" it said. "_Draco trusted you, and you betrayed his secret. He'll never forgive you._"

"I know," she thought. "I know! I know! I KNOW!" Elizabeth only realized that she had shouted her thoughts aloud when the entire class quieted, and all eyes were on her. She flushed and sank farther down into her seat, while Harry mumbled, "Nothing to see here." Draco was sending her messages with his eyes: _Are you okay? What's wrong? Why do you look completely miserable? Did everything go alright with Harry? _

"If only you knew..." Elizabeth mumbled.

_Are you okay? _No she wasn't okay. She had just managed to, within fifteen minutes, spill a life's worth of secrets about another person, secrets that she had been forbidden from uttering to anyone but her or Draco!

_What's wrong?_ She had betrayed him, and now she was afraid that she would lose his trust for ever. Furthermore, she didn't even know if Harry had believed her, let alone how he would act on his belief or disbelief.

_Why do you look completely miserable? _She didn't want to, but she knew she would have to tell him what she'd done. Not only to sate the guilt bubbling within her, but because it was the right thing to do.

_Did everything go alright with Harry?_ She laughed to herself. Yes, everything had gone fine, if fine meant that she had no idea how Harry would react. Not to mention the personal risks she had given herself by telling Harry _everything_. She didn't want him to pity Draco, but she had told him everything, even her fears(which had been pretty much confirmed) that Lucius had been abusive toward Draco ever since the poor boy had been born.

Elizabeth slammed her forehead against the desk, causing Harry to start. She ignored her brother, her thoughts a mess of worries, doubts, and nagging consciences. She promised herself that if she had completely messed things up for her, Draco, and the Golden Trio, that she would hunt down a Time Turner and stop herself from every coming to this class today in the first place.

* * *

Some hours later around the time that most people were already in bed, Harry sat alone in the common room, his mouth set in a straight line. He was waiting for Ron and Hermione who had promised to meet him here after they did... something. They had been very vague about what exactly it was they needed to do before they could all talk together. Harry shook his head in bitter amusement. His two best friends had finally decided to give it a go, and here he was making a decision that could ruin them.

He had thought for a long time after Elizabeth had revealed the secret to Draco's behavior toward the Golden Trio since day one. Harry had always wondered what exactly made Malfoy act the way he did, and know he knew. Elizabeth hadn't been certain, but from what she knew and pieced together, she had told him that Draco was being beaten by his father, Lucius Malfoy, the sole reason for Draco's pureblood views in the first place.

Harry knew it was possible. Lucius was an impossibly evil man, second by only a little to Voldemort himself. Lucius was also unwaveringly loyal to the man who beat him out for Most Evil Wizard of the Present Day. Harry was sure that if it came to it, Lucius would murder his own family to please the man he called the Dark Lord. Harry chuckled, wondering if Lucius knew that Voldemort was a half blood.

The portrait of the fat lady swung inward, and Ron and Hermione came through, Hermione giggling girlishly at something Ron had said. Harry blanched, wondering if he and Ginny had looked like that when they were still in their we-just-started-dating-and-it's-still-just-a-crush stage. He hoped not.

Hermione plopped down beside him in one of the comfortable armchairs provided in the common room, her face still lit with joy.

"Hullo, Harry! Sorry that took so long, we were...occupied."  
She glanced at Ron who had taken a seat next to Harry on the couch, and let out a high-pitched giggle when Ron winked at her. It took all of Harry's willpower not to make gagging motions. Since when had Hermione become such a girl? Right. Since she and Ron started dating. Harry wondered if it were sinful for him to wish that they would break up, or at least get past this stage quickly, but then shoved the thought aside guiltily.

He still wasn't sure if he and Ginny had acted this way, and until he was, he wouldn't judge anyone.

"So you wanted to talk to us, mate? What about?"

Harry looked at Ron and then Hermione, the smile on his face forced.

"I was partnered with Elizabeth in Transfiguration class today, and we...talked. I think we're on good terms now, and I'd even go as far as to call us friends."

Hermione half squealed in delight before leaping up from her seat and wrapping her arms around Harry's neck, hugging him tightly. Harry smiled, and out of the corner of his eye, noticed Ron's eyes narrowed slightly in jealousy. He brushed it off as newly dating insecurity and hugged Hermione back. Finally she pulled away and smiled at him brightly.

"I'm so glad Harry, you two shouldn't have to fight all the time because you're in different houses, you _are _siblings." Her words felt bitter at the end and Harry chuckled before ruffling her hair.

"You don't have anything to worry about Hermione, you'll always be like a sister to me to, you always have been." he sent a pointed look at Ron as he said this, reassuring his friend that there was nothing to worry about in the Harry+Hermione=equals more than VERY deep friendship. Ron flushed, embarrassed by Harry's obvious notice of his jealousy.

Hermione, oblivious to interactions of her best friend and boyfriend smiled widely and turned to Ron.

"Isn't it wonderful, Ron? Harry and Elizabeth are friends now!"

Ron crossed his arms and sulked down into the cushion, successfully hiding his flushed face. "I guess..." he mumbled an Hermione frowned, pointing a chastising finger at him.

"You aren't still upset at her for defeating Harry at the dueling club meeting are you? Come now Ron, that's childish!" his eyes flashed even though he was used to being called childish and immature by just about everyone.

"It's not that," he whined, "She's in Slytherin, and even before that, she sided with Malfoy at the train station!"

Hermione shook her head at him, disappointment obvious in her eyes.

"So what if she's in Slytherin? This years _Head Boy_ also happens to be a Slytherin It's time we let that petty hatred go Ronald, there's a _war _coming on the horizon! We need all the help we can get!"

Ron looked uncomfortable in the accusation spotlight.

"I know that, but _Malfoy!_"

Hermione opened her mouth as if she was about to defend the cocky blond Slytherin, but then shut it again, obviously coming up with nothing to defend him with. Harry took this as his opportunity to jump into the conversation.

"Actually guys, that's what I _really _wanted to talk about."

Ron and Hermione turned to him, confusion etched on their faces.

"What do you mean, Harry?" Hermione questioned, and Harry took a deep breath.

"Well, while Elizabeth and I were talking she told me some things, that, based on the sincerity in her voice and the large possibility that they could be true, I have decided to believe, perhaps against my better knowledge."

Ron looked completely lost while Hermione was hanging onto Harry's every word from the red armchair that she had returned to. Harry glanced at both of them nervously, ready for them to blow up at him after he spoke his next words.

"According to Elizabeth, Draco Malfoy is only pretending to be the ungodly prat that we know. Apparently, he believed in pureblood values up until the day he came to Hogwarts and met an incredibly gifted and intelligent muggleborn." Hermione flushed upon hearing this, but did not cut in as Harry continued to speak.

"Elizabeth told me that after that, he reconsidered his father's views, which have been forced on him since he was old enough to understand, and found that Lucius was wrong. He continues to be who his father wants him to be, but he hates playing the evil Slytherin. However, if Draco doesn't act like the perfect little pureblood git, his life could be in danger."

Harry paused, letting the information sink in for a moment, and before either of his friends could burst out, he spoke again.

"After consideration, I've decided to believe Elizabeth's story. If it's true, Draco needs to continue being known for the reputation he has, but I'm going to try to help him however I can, possibly a truce under the ruse that I'm tired of our childish rivalry. I'm not going to force either of you to follow me on this, but I am firm set in my decision in this situation."

Both of his friends looked completely gobsmacked, and it was Hermione who was first to recover. She jumped up from her position in the chair and moved to stand in front of him, hands on her hips.

"This is not funny at _all_, Harry James Potter! Stop joking!"

Harry did not crack at a grin, simply remained where he was.

"I'm being dead serious, 'Mione."

Her gaze softened at the use of his nickname for her, and she looked at him pleadingly. "Are you sure Harry, absolutely sure? This could just be a Slytherin ploy to get you to trust them, and then they can turn on us. I wouldn't put it past them!"

Harry put a hand out to stabilize her arms which were now flailing around.

"Hermione, I know this is something really big, and I wouldn't believe this if anyone else had told me. But it was _Elizabeth_, my sister. When she was done speaking, I thought the same thing at first, that it was all a trap. I asked her if she was completely positive and she looked in my eyes and told me, "Absolutely." The look in her eyes when she said that, I knew she was speaking the truth. By believing her, and trying to do something about it, is my way of telling her that I trust her, and that I'm a trustworthy brother."

Hermione had tears in her eyes from the sincere tone he was using, and the passionate emotion in his voice.

"Harry, you love your sister. You _really _love your sister, I can see it in your eyes, and I'm _so_ happy for you. But I can't get over the fact that this is probably a ploy! Think rationally Harry-"

"I AM THINKING RATIONALLY!"

He hadn't meant to shout at her, but it just came out. He was getting annoyed by her insistence that this was all a ruse. Hermione flinched backwards, and Ron sat straight upright, his eyes glinting darkly.

"Don't you yell at her! She hasn't done anything!" he shouted back, standing as if to face Harry, but Hermione stopped him with a hand on his chest.

"Stop it Ron!"

Ron glared at her.

"He just yelled at you, and you expect me to just let it go?"

Hermione looked at him softly, imploringly.

"Yes Ron, yes I do."

He mumbled something incoherent and fell back against the couch. Harry stood standing in front of Hermione, hundreds of apologies flashing through his eyes.

" 'Mione, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have yelled. I told you that I wasn't expecting you two to follow me just because I'm me, you need to decide for yourselves, but you have to understand. You weren't there, you didn't see her eyes. If she had been lying, I would have known. Those eyes couldn't lie."

He placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder and she looked up at him.

"I'm not saying that she was lying, but what if _he_ was lying to her?"

"Then we were both tricked. I'm going to do this, whether you're with me or not. It will be lonely without you two, but I'm going to try and make a truce with Draco Malfoy. Are you with me or not? That's all I need to know."

Hermione sniffed, and looked at Ron, then at Harry, then at Ron again.

"Oh Harry, I'll always be with you. Even if your decisions may be sort of rash sometimes, things have always worked out, and I'm going to believe that things will work out here. I'm with you on this."

Harry's face morphed into instant relief and hugged her, burrowing his face in the crook of her neck.

"Thank you, thank you so much Hermione."

she smiled and stroked his hair.

"No problem Harry, you always have us, you know that."

"OH I DON'T THINK SO!"

Both Harry and Hermione's eyes shot up, Harry banging his head on Hermione's chin the process. Ron was standing beside them, his eyes filled with cobalt fury, his teeth grinding in rage.

"Do you two hear yourselves? Hello, this is _Malfoy_. Draco Malfoy! He's been an evil little prick to us since First Year! Hermione, he's called you a mudblood on numerous occasions, and Harry, he's insulted you _and _your parents non-stop since he couldn't make "friends" with you before the sorting. "I think I can pick my friends for myself," remember that Harry? That was when you pretty much _vowed_ not to be friends with him. Ever! And now you want to go and make _peace_ with him?"

It sounded as if it burned Ron's tongue to say the words. Harry's eyes were downcast and emotionless. For a second it almost seemed like he was going to listen to Ron. Then he glanced up, his eyes unwavering.

"I'm sorry Ron, but if we can't forgive and forget we might as well be as bad as Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It's not like I'm forgiving Draco for all the things he's done, but if he's stuck in a hard place and wants to get out, if he doesn't want to be the way he is, I'm not going to just ignore it."

Ron sputtered in rage, obviously feeling betrayed. He turned pleadingly to Hermione.

"Hermione? Babe? Come on, you're with me right? Remember all the horrible names that retched git has called you! And how he cursed your teeth! Remember?"

Hermione's eyes were wide, her brain for once no help to her. She was torn between her best friend and possibly doing what was right, or the one she "loved" and leaving someone who was suffering to suffer on his own. Her eyes automatically teared up as she reached a decision and she stepped toward Harry. She could never leave someone in need.

"I'm sorry too Ron, but Malfoy doesn't need our hate, he might possibly even need our help!"

Ron felt his heart break. His supposed "best friend" and his girlfriend were taking the side of the person who had been their enemy for seven years. He glared at both of them, fury blazing in his eye.

"Then there is no _us_ in this situation. I will _not_ make a truce with Draco Malfoy, and I refused to help his sorry ass. As far as I'm concerned, he deserves it. Oh, and Hermione, we're over!"

He spun on his heel and stomped from the common room, feet thudding against the stairs as he climbed up to dormitories. Hermione instantly burst into tears, falling against Harry, how supported her. Harry stroked her hair, watching the spot where his possibly ex-best friend has just disappeared, and repeated over and over again, "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. He'll come around. He'll definitely come around, he always does."

He wasn't sure if the last part was more to convince Hermione or himself. (**1**)

* * *

At the same time that Harry was sitting in his common room waiting for Hermione and Ron, Elizabeth stood outside of the Slytherin Common Room, alone in a dark dungeon hallway standing in front of a blank wall. She was shifting back and forth on the balls of her feet, her nerves in full swing. Any Slytherin beside herself, Blaise, or Draco would have said that she was acting like a simpering Hufflepuff, but she didn't care.

She had gone to Blaise, wanting to confide in him(seeing as he was a very good friend of Draco(and herself) and would have insight about how to approach the situation of telling Draco), but knew she should talk to Draco first. So she asked where he would be. Blaise automatically replied "the Slytherin Common Room" and Elizabeth had sulkily made her way down to the dungeons after thanking him for his help. Now she was standing here, trying to work up the nerve to go inside.

With a large gulp of air she let out a hasty, "Pureblood" and after a moment, the door to the common room slid open with the slight scraping of rock against rock. Elizabeth slid inside, glancing around in search of Draco's pale blond hair.

Finally, she saw it, but upon second glance she realized that it was underneath a head of black hair. Elizabeth gasped as she saw Pansy Parkinson smothering Draco. He was trying-and failing-to shove her off, while the oblivious and completely infatuated girl tried to nuzzle him. He attempted to communicate with her, but she wouldn't have any of that, and continued her assault.

Elizabeth rushed over, her nervousness momentarily forgotten, and threw the unfortunate girl to the floor, her eyes filled with disgust and-not that she would admit it-jealousy.

"Are you deaf you stupid wench? He said get off! Can't you see that he _isn't _interested! Now get away, I need to talk to him!" Pansy jumped up, sticking her nose in the air snootily.

"Whatever, _Potter_. Just because your jealous about the relationship Drakie and I have."

Elizabeth scoffed and had to keep herself from socking the girl in the face.

"Just keep telling yourself that, sweetie~ In the meantime, I don't know if you realized, that while _you_ were enjoying molesting him, he was trying to push you off! You must be fatter than I thought under all that trampy clothing. I didn't know you were smart enough to do a slimming charm!" she replied in a sickly sweet voice, her eyes flashing dangerously to show her true intentions.

Pansy, looking like she was about to cry, started stuttering, looking for a comeback. Elizabeth sneered, and glared at the girl.

"Just go, Parkinson!"

That sent Pansy scurrying to the dormitories and Elizabeth smirked. Nobody messed with her Draco-wait, her Draco? She quickly shook the thought from her mind, and turned to Draco who was smirking up at her.

"Very nice, Potter, I didn't know you had it in you. Looks like you really were meant to be in Slytherin, huh?"

Elizabeth's face broke into a smile and she fell into his lap, hugging him affectionately and placing her head in the crook of his neck.

"She was bothering you, I wasn't going to just let her keep at it! It was a little too much PDA for my tastes, thank you very much. You're not angry are you?"

He shook his head and chuckled, his neck vibrating against her forehead.

"Angry, why would I be angry after that display? You got rid of the pest! I wouldn't get angry at you for doing me a favor like that."

Elizabeth stiffened, her brain back on track once more. She still had to tell Draco about telling Harry. She pulled away from him, scooting over to sit next to him, her back stiff. He gave her a confused look and waved a hand in front of her face.

"Hello? Lizzy? Anybody home? What's wrong?"

She turned to him, her mouth set in a tight smile.

"Nothing, nothing, everything perfect!"

He didn't seem to believe her, but changed the subject. However, his subject change only brought their conversation closer to a place that Elizabeth really didn't want to go.

"So how'd it go with your brother in Transfiguration? You looked down right miserable afterword; what happened?"

Elizabeth shut her eyes and slid sideways, falling so that her head was laying in his lap. She clutched her hands together like a little child and shook her head.

"I don't want to tell you-"

"You don't _have_ to tell me-"

"Yes I do!" she half shouted as she sat up. He backed away on the couch a little bit, hands held up defensively. Elizabeth would have laughed at his vulnerability, seeing as it was the exact opposite behavior of the Draco Malfoy that the Golden Trio had "known" for so long, but she was in no position to laugh at him right now, seeing as seconds later he would be raging at her.

"Calm down Elizabeth, I was just trying to make sure you knew that you didn't _have _to tell me anything."

She nodded rapidly, her eyes scanning the common room. it was empty-thank god-and would probably remain empty seeing as most people were already asleep.

"No, you want to hear this, trust me. I'm just afraid of how you're going to react!"

Draco's eyes were flicking across her features, trying to figure out what she could possibly be about to tell him.

"Elizabeth, what's going on? You're not acting like yourself!"

His voice was filled with worry and concern, and she immediately felt even more guilty than she already did. His surprisingly warm hand gripped hers, trying to be reassuring, but it only brought on an urge to cry. She didn't have time to cry now, she needed to tell him this.

Trying to procrastinate, her eyes studied the pattern on the couch, a mess of swirling silver thread embedded in forest green fabric. It was beautiful and mysterious, a never ending maze of lines that she couldn't follow. Fed up with the impossible silver tracks, she looked up, her guilt filled green eyes meeting his worried silver ones. Gulping, she started, her voice no more than a whisper.

"Things went really well with Harry, I'd even go so far as to call us friends. He definitely doesn't hate me. But while we were talking, an opportunity came up, and I just couldn't _not_ say anything and..." the tears were coming now as she remembered how she had given in to her Slytherin side, forgetting the feelings of Draco and everyone else and saying things only to benefit her own wants. She tightened her grip on Draco's hand, feeling a tear slide down her cheek.

"I told him Draco. I told him EVERYTHING! Even the things that I wasn't certain of, assumptions I made!" her voice was a strangled cry, and she wasn't even sure if Draco had understood what she was talking about. He was so silent, so unmoving. He was just too lifeless, like the calm ocean before a storm comes.

She knew, she knew he was furious. He was trying to suppress his rage, for her, and that fact made her want to cry even more than the two tears that had managed to escape from her eyes.

When he finally spoke, it sounded as if he didn't believe what he was saying. "Everything?"

She nodded almost painfully. The guilt pulsing through her veins had decided that she needed to be punished, and was biting at her arms and legs, repeating over and over "_You're a traitor. A traitor. You betrayed him!_" She wanted to scream "I KNOW!" but her eyes were focused on Draco, waiting for his reaction.

His shoulders were shaking slightly, and she flinched, waiting for his outburst. It came within seconds, like an exploding volcano, and she knew that she deserved this.

"Elizabeth... WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

He was seething with uncontainable rage, and she knew it was from anger, disbelief, betrayal and fright. She cowered away from him, rubbing her red eyes.

"I'm sorry, Draco, I'm so sorry! I knew you wouldn't like it, but it felt like the perfect time! I know I shouldn't have done it, but I did! And I can't take it back now!"

He stood, pacing across the expensive fit-for-royalty rug, hands clasped behind his back. He refused to look at her, his eyes narrowed and glaring straight ahead of him.

"Were you even thinking when you told him? Did you stop for a moment and wonder to yourself how I would feel? How I would react? I trusted you!"

Elizabeth remained on the couch, sitting with her hands in her lap. She felt like a disobedient child who was being lectured by their parent.

"No, I wasn't thinking about that...I was just thinking- No, I wasn't thinking! Alright? I wasn't thinking at all! And I know that you trusted me, I know that I betrayed your trust with everything I have, and I'm sorry! I'm so sorry that I've told your secret and possibly put you in danger! That's not what I wanted! I just want you to be happy, I hate that you have to hide yourself for your stupid jack ass of a father! He can burn in hell for all I care!"

She stood now, facing him where he stood.

"But I refuse to take my actions back until I see how things play out! If at the end of this, people are dead and you and Harry are _still_ enemies, fine, just fine! Then I'll find a time turner and stop myself from ever saying anything! But for now, all I have are my apologies, and if that's not good enough, then I guess you aren't a very good best friend are you? Yes I betrayed you, but I did it because I want this stupid Slytherin/Gryffindor rivalry to stop! you and Harry are roll models, you're seventh years, yet you _continue_ to act like two year old fighting over a toy! Grow up!"

She was panting, her eyes staring into him, pleading her case with every ounce of her being. He still refused to meet her eyes, and she felt a heart grow along her crack.

"Did he believe you?"

She stepped backward, his question not at all what she expected. Recovering quickly, she frowned.

"I'm not sure. He said he needed to think about it, and then we stopped talking."

Suddenly she was being enveloped in a warm hug, his arms encasing her against his body, his nose in her hair seeing as she was shorter than he was.

"Elizabeth Potter, what am I going to do with you? You may have just royally screwed things up."

She sighed into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his midsection.

"I really am sorry."

"I know."

There was probably more that he wanted to say; and there were things that she couldn't manage to get out either. But for now, that was enough.

* * *

**1**: This is against my normal policy, but I feel the need to a put a note in about this little section. I myself DO NOT hate Ron Weasley, I just don't like him with Hermione Granger(I'm more of a Ron/Pansy or a Ron/Lavender fan myself) and I still haven't quite decided what's going to happen with dear Ronniekinz. But you have no need to worry(if you were), nothing bad will happen to poor Ron. I hate the fics where he ends up being secretly a Death Eater or some rubbish like that. that is NOT happening in this story! However, there will probably be a little Ron bashing in later chapters. So I'll say sorry in advance to any Ron fans out there.

Notes: OOOU! Dramatic chapter! I was gonna leave it at the end, let you think that Draco remained pissed at her, but I just couldn't do that, it would hurt ME too much xD There, I'm being nice and filling in my cliff hanger from the last chapter, you should all thank me~ don't worry, you don't _have_ to~~ HOWEVER, I would love it if you told me what you thought of the chapter in a, review, hmmm? I think that's a wonderful idea! Yupper doodles, reviews would make me absolutely happy~~~ Even though it's summer, reviews=inspiration~ the more reviews i get, the more likely i am to update faster! (though you most likely won't be getting an update for a couple days cause I'm going to visit my cousins this weekend~ they "don't believe" in having a computer. I'm trying to change their point of view on that one xD)

REVIEW PLEASE~

Love, Snowflake~


	10. Chapter 9: Sworn Enemies No Longer

Notes: I know, I know...I'm a terrible person...but it's not my fault! Like you may have known, I was going to my cousins house for the weekend...oh...two weeks ago... my cousins who don't have a computer! (which is a very sad thing, i know) Now, I was planning to be there for three days, and then come home and update by Wednesday! Then, on Sunday, my mother breaks it to me that we're actually staying for two more weeks! And I of course, didn't have a computer, there (well I did for a little while when my Dad brought up his laptop, but not for long enough to write a chapter D: ) so I couldn't update or inform anyone that I would be taking longer...but now I'm back at my house with my lovely, albeit very annoying, computer! I finished this as quickly as I could, and I'm not very pleased with the chapter. This is one that I'll definitely be editing a lot when i go back to edit everything! Sorry it's kind of bad, the next chapter should be better! I'm not lying now, I literally have a whole ton of plot stuff coming up! Like, a lot!

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Harry Potter xD

* * *

_Keep your friends_  
_ close, and your_  
_ enemies closer _  
_-Sun Tzu, Chinese General and Military Strategist_

**(This doesn't REALLY match the chapter, but my friend suggested it, and I owe her, so... xD)**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Sworn Enemies No Longer**

Deep in the bowels of a dark manor house in Wiltshire, two figures stood in the dying fire light. The taller figure, a thin man masked in the shadows, sat in a throne like chair. His back was straight as he stared down the second figure, a small stumpy man who was cowering below him. The first man leaned against the back of his throne, piercing red eyes staring at the flickering fire only feet away.

"Are you certain, Wormtail?"

The second figure, the cowerer, flinched as the slippery voice met his ears, asking a question. The answer to this question could spell doom or praise for the accursed Wormtail.

"Positively, my Lord. Your spy confirms it, the girl has returned, she is in hiding no longer. And what's more, she is a Slytherin, best friend to Lucius's boy."

The man in the high-back chair seemed to smirk, his thin lips curling back to reveal sharp teeth.

"This is excellent news, Wormtail. Perhaps, she can be persuaded to join our cause. Tell Lucius to send a message to his son, Elizabeth will be mine!"

Wormtail cowered once more as his master's voice echoed throughout the dungeon room, cruel and venomous like the snake wrapping around the arms of his chair. Then the cowardly, cockroach of a man bowed low to the ground.

"It shall be done, my Lord."

Wormtail jumped to his feet, and with another hurried bow, fled the room in search of Lucius Malfoy. The man, who most know as Voldemort or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, stared into the fire, his ruby red eyes darkening in evil expectation. With a flick of his wand, the flames in the fireplace died, and he was left in darkness.

He turned to his snake in the dark, stroking her head lovingly.

"How will poor Potter react when I turn his dear sister against him, hmmm Nagini? I will do everything in my power to get her on my side, by force or not. With her and the Malfoy boy, I believe we have the leaders of our next generation of Death Eaters."

He laughed, loud and cruel, his hand still petting the snake.

"I _will_ win this war Nagini, I'm sure of it."

* * *

Elizabeth sat upright in her bed, eyes wide. She glanced around hurriedly, as if wondering where she was, before bringing a hand up to scratch the back of her neck where small hairs were standing upright.

She had just awoken from an intense dream, that she was sure of. The contents of that dream, however, were as clear as trying to see the bottom of a pool of muddy water. So basically, she had no idea what she had dreamed about.

Aggravated at the information that she just couldn't grasp, Elizabeth pushed her silk sheets aside, and placed her feet on the cool dungeon floor. Realization of yesterday's events came hurtling from her memory and she stumbled, falling to one knee on the floor. She stared at the carpet, eyes flicking side to side, as if she would find some kind of escape in the fine thread below her. Finding nothing, she stood with a loud grumble and started rummaging through her trunk.

"Go back to sleep, it's 4 a.m!" Pansy Parkinson shrieked from the other side of the room while Millicent Bulstrode and Daphne Greengrass grunted their disapproval of Elizabeth's morning wander. Elizabeth ignored them, grabbed up her clothes, and moved into the bathroom to change, rolling her eyes at their glares as she went.

* * *

When she first entered the common room it appeared to be empty, but on second glance she noticed a shock of white-blond hair peeking up over one of the chairs facing the abnormally cold fireplace. She shook her head at Draco's choice of seating, before sliding to stand behind him.

"Are you nervous?"

He didn't appear to have heard her at first, but after a moment,

"No. I've been reassuring myself that no matter what happens, it isn't actually my fault."

She pouted and leaned farther over to poke his head.

"I said I was sorry about that, really, really sorry! You're not still mad at me are you?"

He spun around slightly, looking up at her over his shoulder, and she felt herself melt a little like she always did when he stared at her like that, with those eyes...His expressions morphed to a smirk and he tugged on a lock of her hair.

"Nothing to worry about, Lizzy, I'm just pulling your leg. I'm just gonna face the day like it's any other, regular day."

"But it's not any other, regular day."

He turned away from her, his silver eyes staring at the heatless fire. He did this often; she wondered why.

"I know, but I'm trying to forget that."

Elizabeth moved around the side of the chair and sat beside him on the floor, reaching up to clasp her hand with his.

"Whatever happens, you'll always have me."

"I know."

Once again, there was more that could have been said. Elizabeth knew that truthfully Draco was worried about the outcome of Elizabeth's actions. If Harry didn't believe her words he might make a giant scene about how she and Draco were liars or confront them both in public. But if Harry _did_ believe her, he might do something that would show Lucius Malfoy that his son was a "traitor," which would have terrible consequences for Draco.

She tightened her grip on his hand and stared into the fire. Now she knew why Draco did this so often. The flickering flames were weirdly calming, and the lack of heat kept her mind sharp so that she could zone in on precise thoughts. Before she knew it, though, the clock was chiming seven o'clock and it was time for them to make their way down to breakfast.

Neither said a word as the exited the common room, but as the wall slid open to let them through, Elizabeth shot a glance at Draco and he met it with a half-hearted grin.

* * *

By breakfast, the complete reality had finally sunk in for Elizabeth: Harry's actions throughout the day would spell out the fates for both Draco and herself. She had decided that she would watch him like a hawk; every movement would be documented so that hopefully before nightfall, she would know whether or not Harry had decided to believe her.

He had walked into the great hall with both Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, but upon reaching the Gryffindor table, they had parted. Ron went to sit with Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, while Harry and Hermione sat next to Ginny and the other Weasleys. The latter half of the Golden Trio immediately fell into a deep, and seemingly hurried conversation, occasionally glancing over toward her and Draco, confirming Elizabeth's theory that they were the subject of Harry and Hermione's conversation. Hermione and Harry were still following this pattern at 8 o'clock but Elizabeth had no clues as to what Harry had decided.

She turned back to her plate of eggs and sausage, content to push the food around on the plate, all plans to watch Harry constantly completely forgotten. A moment later she felt Draco stiffen beside her. Glancing up just as a shadow fell over her food she came face to face with a stony faced Harry Potter. He was staring at Draco with his harsh expression, but she swore that she saw him wink at her out of the corner of his eye.

Draco spun in his seat, rotating so that he was sitting facing Harry directly. The entire room stopped what it was doing to watch the two arch rivals and see what would happen next.

"Potter, what do you want?" Draco sneered. "Can't you see that I'm eating? I don't have time to deal with you and your stupid muggleborn sidekick. Where's the Weasel?"

Harry sneered right back, his eye flicking over the Slytherin Table in disgust. Elizabeth couldn't tell if it was real or fake when it landed on her and Draco.

"Ron didn't agree with me on my decision. I'm tired of fighting childishly with you, it bores me. I'd like to actually enjoy my seventh year without having to worry about you all the time. Don't make a mistake, this doesn't mean we're best friends all of a sudden, but I'd like to make a truce." Harry answered after a moment.

The entire room held it's breath, everyone waiting for Draco's reaction. Said boy was sitting there, his mouth hanging open, as if he had just received a Bludger to the face from one of his own teammates. Suddenly he came back to life.

"Excuse me?" he questioned loudly, his voice filled with disbelief, as if he were waiting for someone to jump out and shout "APRIL FOOLS!" Harry looked amused.

"You heard me Malfoy, Harry Potter wants a truce. A truce in which we will be cordial to each other and cease to hex one another in the hallways anymore. So what do you say?"

Draco looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing and Elizabeth wasn't sure she was fully awake at the moment either. She glanced around the room to see the reactions of the other tables.

The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had gone back to their lunches, not wanting to be involved as was usual, but Elizabeth noticed them glancing over out of the corner of their eyes. They wanted to see what would happen just as much as anyone else.

The Gryffindors were giving Harry shocked looks, all of them obviously wondering what was going through their Boy Wonder's head. Ron was shaking his head back and forth. He leaned over toward Seamus and said something that Elizabeth couldn't hear, which made Seamus then turn to glare at Harry and mouth a single word: "Backstabber!"

Elizabeth turned away from the betrayed looking Gryffindors and instead focused on the staff table. Dumbledore had tears shining in his eyes, but all the other teachers seemed just as shocked as everyone else in the room.

Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief; people were taking it much better than she had thought. She had automatically assumed that there would be lots of shouting involved(if this was the way Harry would go about responding to her story), but now that the moment had come, there was dead silence. Nobody had expected any of this.

Elizabeth returned her gaze to Draco and saw that he was mimicking her motions, scanning the room to see what everyone else thought of the situation. Now his eyes searched the Slytherin table, looking for something. Elizabeth followed his glance and saw that the entire Slytherin table was looking at Draco, their thumbs pointed down, silently pressuring him with an the "DON'T DO IT" in their eyes.

She saw her best friend, the boy she had connected with perfectly and slowly begun to fall for in a little more than a month, begin to break under the pressure. His eyes looked to Blaise desperately, but the Italian shook his head. Elizabeth knew what Blaise was thinking: If you do it, your Dad will know. She knew Blaise was right. The Draco Malfoy that Lucius had raised would never give in to a truce with Harry Potter, never ever in a million years.

Then Draco had turned to her, his silver orbs showing complete resignation. His eyes pleaded with her, and she knew: her next actions would finalize everything. She took a moment to think her decision over, but then smiled at him, all doubts suddenly gone from her mind. She pictured him as his usual proud, joking self and the answer was clear. She nodded. Once. The smile never straying from her face.

Confidence returned to his gaze and he thanked her with the single shimmering flicker in his eyes. Then he turned back to Harry, sticking his hand out.

"I agree, Potter. This childish rivalry is far below both of us, and I'd enjoy my year much more if I didn't have to insult you every time I saw you."

Harry grinned, and it was obvious to Elizabeth that this would most likely be the start of a beautiful, if not awkward and rocky at the beginning, friendship. Harry reached over to grab Draco's outstretched hand and shook it. There was silence for only a minute more as everyone took in the sight before them. Sworn enemies Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, who, up until apparently right now, had scrunched their noses at the mere mention of the others name, were shaking hands and had just agreed to push their rivalry behind them. It was a lot for most to try and take in.

Suddenly a loud but lonely clapping broke the silence and all eyes flicked over to the Staff Table.

Albus Dumbledore was standing, his hand smacking together simultaneously to create a low applause as tears rolled down his cheek. The room watched for a moment before scattered members of the Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor tables stood up and began clapping as well. They didn't really seem to know why they were clapping, or really want to, but if the Headmaster was applauding, they would join in as well.

The Great Hall was suddenly filled with the echoing drum beat that is applause and Elizabeth felt like her mouth would break, the noise had her smiling so hard.

Glancing around, Elizabeth saw that other students had joined in on the clapping from their seats. Not wanting to be one of them, Elizabeth stood abruptly and clapped like her life depended on it. As she did this she noted that she was the only one clapping at the Slytherin table, unless you counted Blaise who was patting his hands together lightly, as was his duty as Head Boy, while still shaking his head.

Ignoring the lack of acceptance from her house, Elizabeth continued to applaud with most of the rest of the room until a moment later when Dumbledore quieted the room with a single raised hand.

"That was an excellent show of House Unity. Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, if you two would meet me in my office at precisely 8:30 tonight, I would be ever so pleased. Now students, you may return to your meals. I'd hurry up, you only have so long until classes start."

The hall quieted as the uproar from before faded and students became interested in their breakfast once more. Harry sent a small smile in Elizabeth's direction before going back to the Gryffindor table with Hermione. The pair looked at Ron(who, Elizabeth noted, had not clapped at all) with pleading glances, but he ignored them, choosing to talk with Lavender Brown instead. Elizabeth took this moment to spin completely in her seat so that she was facing a still slightly shell-shocked looking Draco Malfoy.

She knew that he was now reveling in the fact that he and Harry Potter had just made a truce. A truce that "Draco Malfoy" would never make. She was sure that he was dreading the owl, or worse, visit, from his father that would no doubt come within the next few days.

Allowing her features to betray none of her own worry, excitement, nervousness, elation, confusion, and dread, Elizabeth reached over and pulled him into a tight hug, murmuring quietly that everything would work out right in the end, cause she would be there to help him.

Up at the staff table, Albus Dumbledore was watching the pair, his eyes twinkling in delight. Beside him, Minerva McGonagal dropped her fork onto her plate with a small clang. Leaning towards Dumbledore, she hissed, "Albus, should you really be letting Elizabeth get close to that boy? I know what we just witnessed, but is it really smart? With _that_ to think about?"

Dumbledore glanced at the Transfiguration professor sadly.

"I know what you're thinking, Minerva. It is cruel of me to allow a love to be born that will only result in death and suffering, but we must go through with our plans for Mr. Malfoy. It is critical if we want the future of the Wizarding World to be bright. Elizabeth will be good for him in his darkest times, and I believe that those two can overcome the hardships that will come to them. I have to believe, for their own sakes. _That_ is actually what I plan to discuss with Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter this evening, along with the reasons behind their wonderful act just now."

Minerva looked confused.

"Act? Does that mean they haven't really made a truce?"

Dumbledore chuckled.

"Oh, they have made a truce, but not for the reasons they spoke of just now. You will understand soon my dear, but for now, we must watch and wait."

* * *

Elizabeth didn't get a chance to talk with Draco alone until after lunch when they both had a free spent five precious minutes searching for him, but finally found him sitting alone on the shore's of the Black Lake, staring into the dark waters.

She briefly wondered what it was with him and staring into things, but swept the thought aside and sat down beside him quietly. She knew he had registered her presence, he always did, but respected his need for silence when he didn't immediately greet her. He continued to observe the gently lapping waters for while, obviously contemplating something or other.

Elizabeth was content to just sit beside him and leave him to his thoughts, basking in the warmth of his presence. She knew that he needed time to ponder all the things that could come of today's events, and she wouldn't bother him until he was ready to speak.

When he finally spoke, it wasn't what she had been expecting.

"I've always loved this lake. Some of my best memories of Hogwarts from before you came consist of me simply sitting here, lost in the constant movement of the waves."

Taken aback by the arbitrary statement, Elizabeth had to catch herself and think over her response before actually speaking. She peered at the lake, watched as the resident Giant Squid raised a single tentacle, as if waving, before pulling the tentacle back, causing the waves washing against the shore to come up just a little bit farther.

"It seems like a great place for thinking."

He laughed without humor, his eyes lowering to the rocky sand below them.

"Yeah, a great place for thinking. Or for escaping. We have a pond in the woods behind our Manor House in Wiltshire. I don't have access to all of it because of the protective wards my father has put up, but there's one point on the Western edge where it's impossible to be seen from the house. It's like my sanctuary."

Elizabeth took in his words with a sad smile.

"Maybe, if all this terror from your father and Voldemort ever settles down, you can show me some day."

Draco nodded, though Elizabeth could tell his mind wasn't completely in their conversation at the moment. He was thinking about something else, something that was troubling him.

Knowing that he probably wouldn't say anything to bring up the things they really needed to converse about, Elizabeth cleared her throat, causing Draco to glance over at her with more attention than before.

"Do you think what happened at breakfast was good or bad?"

Draco shrugged slightly, his shoulders sagging as he realized that he couldn't back out of this conversation.

"In some ways it's good. Your brother has chosen to believe that I don't wish to be one of Voldemorts followers and having a truce with him will allow me to be more of myself around everybody..."

Elizabeth bit her lip, trying to decide whether or not she should reply to that the way she wanted to. She had added another phase to her overall Hogwarts unity plan, and she knew that to suggest it to Draco was a terrible idea(as he would probably say no before she even finished explaining it to him), but hoped that he would trust her seeing as all her other plans had worked out...in one way or another.

"...Though in others it's bad because obviously _someone_ is bound to tell Father."

Here was her cue to begin the persuasion.

"Then we might as well go the whole nine yards."

He looked at her strangely, and she grinned at him. A whole speech was building up in her mind, and she was going to get it out.

"Well you said that the truce is a good thing because you can be _more_ of yourself around everybody, but if your father's just going to find out your a traitor anyways, why not be your _entire_ self!"

"I don't think I like what you're suggesting..."

She groaned in annoyance, here came the refusal. She wasn't going to have any of that, so before he could continue, she shushed him with a hand over his mouth.

"Shut up for a second and let me finish. Now, think about it for a second. You and Harry made it look like you were only doing the truce because you were tired of fighting with each other, and I'm sure almost everyone at this school thought that was why you're making the truce. But when your dad finds out, he'll _know_ that's not why you're doing it! The son he thought he raised would _never_ truce with Harry Potter! He'll know that you've "betrayed" him and switched to the light side. So what is the point in still pretending to be someone you're not if Lucius is still going to _know_!"

Draco seemed to be considering the idea and Elizabeth grinned. A few minutes longer and she would have him hooked like a drug addict.

"Think of the possibilities! You don't have to be the nasty, pompous, Slytherin ass anymore! You can be the Draco that I know! The Draco that has come to be my best friend!"

His face lit up at the prospect of revealing the real him, but then his expression fell again.

"There's a few problems with your plan though, people will never believe that I've just changed completely!"

Elizabeth waggled her finger at him.

"Don't you think I've thought of that? We don't do it right away, we build up to it! We wait a couple days, having you and Harry acting civil around each other, and then maybe a week from now, you, me, and Blaise will go over and ask to sit with Harry's group at lunch! We'll have to continue acting for that lunch, and make it seem like we're just doing it to try and show that we can put up with each other...but then we can make it seem as if we found a common interest conversation and then it just progresses from there!"

Draco shook his head at her, but his lips were upturned in a wide smile.

"Have you even talked this plan through with anyone else?"

Elizabeth pretended to think it over for a moment before she grinned and answered, "Nope~"

Draco rolled his eyes and glanced up at the castle where they could just barely make out the large clock(**1**).

"Free period is over in half an hour, is there anyone we can go talk to now?"

"I always see Ginny and Luna on my way to our Charms class. They won't mind if I make them a tad late for Divination by talking with them for a moment. And Blaise shouldn't be too hard since he sis next to us in Charms; We can talk to him this afternoon. Oh! You can talk to Harry tonight when you go meet with Dumbledore! You'll have to ask him to talk to Hermione if he says yes..."

Draco chuckled slightly, then put a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder to stop her before she started a long rant.

"Lizzy! Take a breath, will you?"

She smiled at him softly, thanking him with her eyes.

"Sorry, I'm just getting really into it! I know it will work!"

"As strange as it is to say this, I think you might be right. This plan seems like it could come through in the end."

A thought seemed to cross his mind, because his head snapped up to look at something far away and his eyes filled with worry.

"What about Father. He's going to go insane when he finds out."

Elizabeth put a finger to her chin and moved into a cross legged position to think of a solution.

"Well...Hogwarts is probably the safest place for you right now. You'll have to talk to Dumbledore about that too tonight. I'm sure he'll understand...Or better yet, tell him about the whole plan! We'll have to see if Ginny, Luna, and Blaise are willing to do it...But if they are, and Harry is-which I'm sure he will be-you should tell Dumbledore! It'll be good to have a teacher that knows what's going on! In fact, maybe we should tell someone else too...who do you think we-"

She was cut off as Draco suddenly reached over and pulled her into a tight hug. She stuttered for a moment, surprised at the action, but her gaze softened as he spoke.

"Thank you, for everything. For telling Harry Potter my secret even though I told you not to, for figuring out a solution to all these problems, and for being the best friend I've ever had."

She struggled slightly against his arms to place her hand on his back in a caring gesture. She let the moment stay as it was, knowing that it could be one of few if her growing feelings were one sided.

"You're welcome Draco," she murmured quietly.

They stayed that way on the shore of the lake until the bell tolled, signaling that it was time to return to classes. Elizabeth felt excitement building in her stomach and she and Draco made their way through the halls toward Charms. It was time to really put her plan in action.

* * *

**1:** I don't think they can actually see the clock from the shores of the lake, but we'll pretend they can because I say so~

Notes: Hurrah~ Another chapter? Aren't I great? Please don't be angry! I WANTED to update, but I swear I couldn't! -dodges as rotten tomatoes are thrown- So, once again, sorry for the **EXTREMELY** hurried, and therefore absolutely dreadfully written chapter(I went over it quickly with Spellcheck...but I know a bunch of grammar is screwed up). I'm very ashamed of this chapter, because i know i could have written it much better, but I'm not going to rewrite it now, because I'm super late in updating...Rereading it now, I also rushed the dialogue a bunch...I left out so much that I wanted to include D: Okay, I'll stop there before I rant on and on...Please Review! I'm telling you, reviews **DO** make me update faster, unless I go somewhere without a computer -_-

Love Snowflake!


	11. Chapter 10: Dumbledore's Office

Notes: I really need to stop doing this...taking forever to update when i KNOW i can have the chapter up in just a couple days. I have an excuse again though! I was gone visiting relatives again, and they wouldn't give me any time on their computer(even though i begged) so i had to wait until i got home yesterday, and then i started typing like crazy xD So i was almost done with the chapter, but then i got REALLY busy, and then we went camping... so i had to wait to finish it AGAIN! But finally, here's Chapter 10~

Disclaimer: I still make that wish every night, but unfortunately, Harry Potter has yet to come into my ownership...I don't own anything but the plot and the characters I made up!

* * *

_Live life when you have  
the chance, especially  
if the end is near  
-My BFF, let's just call her K-chan~_

* * *

**Chapter 10: Dumbledore's Office**

At 8:25 that same night, Draco found himself standing in front of a giant stone gargoyle. Beside him, Harry Potter was standing as well, a thoughtful expression on his face. Now, normally, this would have been a problem for both, but in light of recent events, the two were acting quite friendly.

After a moment of pregnant silence, Harry glanced up from the blank spot of wall he had been staring at intently, frowning slightly.

"So, what you're saying is that even I tried to make it seem as if I was only offering you a truce because I wanted to enjoy my 7th and final year, your father will still know that you've betrayed him just because you accepted the truce?"

Draco nodded, looking particularly sullen.

"Unfortunately. Elizabeth figures that since he's going to find out from one of the Slytherins anyways, we should go the whole nine yards and allow me to be myself in public, at least for our last year."

Harry nodded in agreement, and Draco could see the gears in his mind whirring. He was probably trying to figure out a way for them to do this, even though he had already said that they were by no means friends.

"That would be logical. "Live life when you have the chance, especially if the end is near." Basically meaning that you should live how _you_ want to. Though, how exactly do you plan on doing this?"

"Your lovely sister has come up with a plan, in which we-we being you and I-will be civil to each other in class, in the hallways, etc. And we have to make a big show of the fact that we're being "nice" to each other. Then, perhaps a week after we start, Elizabeth, Blaise Zabini, and myself will ask to sit with you, Granger, Ginny, and Luna at dinner or lunch. From there, it should be slightly obvious-if you agree to let us sit with you, which, you will according to the plan-that we are closer than originally thought, and perhaps even friends. After that, I'm free to slowly "reveal myself" to the school, in Elizabeth's words."

Once finished with his speech, Draco stared at Harry, trying to gauge his reaction. Finally, after a few moments, Harry grinned jokingly.

"Reveal yourself, eh? Not sure everyone will be as excited to see your birthday suit as you appear to be, Malfoy."

Draco returned the grin and continued on as if Harry hadn't actually said anything.

"Elizabeth and I spoke with Blaise, Luna, and Ginny. They've all agreed to help, Blaise mostly because it will also allow him to be more of _himself_ around people other than his closest friends. All we need is your and Hermione's consent, and we're good to go."

Harry put a finger on his chin, as if deep in thought. A second later he smiled warmly, as if to reassure Draco, and then slung his arm over Draco's shoulder, in a friendly gesture that Draco reveled in.

"I can't speak for Hermione, though I'm sure she'll say yes. We lost Ron for you Malfoy, so we might as well help you out all the way. I'm in."

Draco frowned slightly, though inside he was jumping because he knew the plan would work.

"I'm sorry about Weasley."

Harry waved the comment off with his other hand.

"Ron couldn't understood why we wanted to help you. Figures you're still an evil prat with Ferret like tendencies."

Draco laughed, his worry dissipating as he spent more time in "Friend Mode" with Harry.

"I have my moments, Potter."

The last names, now, were said jokingly, in a friendly way, and Draco was pretty sure that they wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. It appeared that the two of them were truly meant to be friends, seeing as, despite everything that had happened between them, they had thrown the issues of the past behind so quickly, and were now acting as if they had been buddies for years.

Draco's eyes twinkled with a mirth he had only felt around Elizabeth as he thought of this, and mused silently to himself. Who knew he had been missing out on so much? It was obvious now that Lucius Malfoy was a lunatic, following an even crazier leader. Draco knew that he should have decided to rebel against his father years ago.

"Well, well Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy. It appears that I was right to assume that your little act in the Great Hall this morning was just that: an act."

Both boys spun around, though it was uncomfortable for both seeing as Harry's arm had been around Draco's shoulder. Nursing his now aching shoulder joints, Harry looked at the professor standing in front of them sheepishly.

"That's correct, Professor Dumbledore. We'd actually like to talk to you about that," he said, his voice ringing with a note of guilt.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled mysteriously.

"That's convenient, seeing as that was going to be the topic of our first discussion tonight. Come, follow me into my office."

The aging wizard walked forward smoothly, coming to stand in front of the gargoyle.

"Lemon Drops," he said, and the gargoyle came to life, nodding it head to the headmaster before starting to turn slowly. When the staircase came into view, Dumbledore strode forward without a look back at the two seventh years. After a moments hesitation, the new-found friends (though they had known each other for almost seven years) hurried after him.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore tried not to let a frown crease his brow as he listened to the two students sitting in front of them. He listened to the blond, who he'd always had an inkling would want to leave the Dark Side, rant passionately about plans to reveal a softer side. In the other chair, the dark haired boy cut into the blonds speech every now and then to add details and his own supportive opinion. It truly made Dumbledore's heart ache to see Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter like this.

He was happy to know that he had been correct, the boys had been acting at breakfast, and was even more pleased to know that they had become so close as to mentally refer to the other as a friend(Dumbledore could tell, he was good with that type of thing), but it pained him to know what he needed Draco Malfoy to do.

He tuned out the voices of his students, and shifted through his mind, looking for an answer. After playing out various scenarios, he mentally sighed, knowing what he needed to do with the sudden turn of events. He knew it was risky, and that the students involved wouldn't understand why he was doing what he was about to do, but he would have time to explain it to everyone when it was all over. That was, if the key students succeeded. And survived.

"So what do you think, Professor?"

He was snapped off of his train of thought by the question, directed at him from the black haired youth. He looked at the boy over his half-moon spectacles, truly seeing him for the first time in a long time. No longer was he the lost orphan boy, reveling in the fact that he was a wizard, and trying to fit in as a normal boy even though a normal boy he definitely was not, struggling through grilling hardships, some deceit, and the strength of friendship.

Now, in front of him sat a confident boy with a large smile. Sure, he had seen too much for a child of merely 17, but he hadn't been tainted. His glorious emerald eyes were shining with mirth, and passion, and hope. Albus couldn't help but choke slightly, knowing that there was worry, heartache, and danger in Harry's immediate future.

Shimmering blue eyes drifted to the left, taking a glance at Draco Malfoy. This boy had gone through an amazing change as well. Dumbledore had always had a feeling that this sulking Slytherin was different: would stray from his given path. Here in front of him was a sunken boy who had seen too much in his lifetime, and had been present for events even darker than Harry had faced. Pale with hair so blond it was almost white, a skinny frame, though not emancipated, but the most intriguing eyes. Even Dumbledore could not figure out what was happening behind the steely silver.

Not a year ago (though throughout Draco's entire Hogwarts career, Albus had felt the growing doubt emanating from the pureblood boy) this had been a sad character. Cocky in public, and rude; the perfect Slytherin. His hair had been slicked back in classic, upper class fashion (when a male had shorter hair), and the grey eyes had been dull, not vibrant like they were now. Though, the headmaster couldn't read them, not even then.

Dumbledore smiled slightly, pride welling in his chest as he thought over the pasts of these two boys. They had both seen hardships, though each different than the other. They had fought for six years, though one begrudgingly, and then the spark had come. Dumbledore thought of said spark and his smile almost faltered, but he was able to maintain it (though both boys would later note on the seeming loss of sparkle in the professors eyes).

"I think it's a wonderful idea, boys. Draco, I've always had a feeling you wouldn't follow in the exact footsteps of your father. Lucius used to be such a dashing boy, i remember when he was granted prefectship in his fifth year, he was so happy. And then, Voldemort started rising, and unfortunately, his beliefs were twisted," Dumbledore cut off suddenly and raised an eyebrow at Draco, who looked like he needed to speak, but wouldn't.

"You have no need to worry, Mr. Malfoy. Am I correct in assuming that you wish for protection for you and your mother, seeing as once your father finds about your so called "betrayal" it will become a messy business indeed. I will sort it all out. You and your mother, should she wish it, will be given protection from the Order of the Phoenix. Your father will not be allowed to harm you anymore."

Dumbledore saw the mix of relief and a tad of confusion flash across Draco's face, and felt a swell of happiness, knowing that he was doing the right thing by allowing this boy a little bit of peaceful time.

Beside Draco, Harry was beaming at the headmaster.

"Thank you, sir. It's wonderful to know that you'll be aware of the plan."

There was a brief pause where a thought seemed to cross Harry's mind, but the Boy-Who-Lived spoke again.

"Er, professor Dumbledore, wasn't there something else you wanted to talk to us about? You wouldn't have called us all the way to your office just for what happened at breakfast."

Dumbledore's blood ran cold, but he forced a half smile on his face, hoping his eyes would keep their usual twinkle.

"That can be kept for another time. It seems that you will be busy planning for this little operation. What I have to say is of no importance at the moment, it can wait just a little while for when the two of you don't have so much on your mind." He glanced at the clock, wondering where almost two hours had gone. "It's best that the two of you return to your dormitories for now."

Both boys bowed slightly, and stood stiffly, feeling uncomfortable at the abrupt dismissal. After bidding the Headmaster goodnight, they turned, and headed for the door. As the slipped through, and the gave the headmaster one last look, Dumbledore winked sincerely.

"Good luck with your project, boys."

And they were gone, off to their house commons unaware of the dark things their beloved Dumbledore was keeping from them.

Albus grimaced as he felt a presence shift behind him. The aura behind him was accusing.

"I thought you were going to tell them, Albus," Professor McGonagall said sharply. Her voice seemed to stab through Dumbledore's body with every word.

"I didn't have the heart to Minerva. There's no need to tell them quite yet."

"You're stringing him along Albus! What good with it do, allowing him to show off his "good side" when we're just going to turn it on him and demand that he fall into the highest ranks of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

Dumbledore refused to look at the Transfiguration teacher.

"I'll figure it out, Minerva. I'll figure out a way. I want him to know a little bit of happiness, if not just a short time where he can freely be himself in front of everyone." his voice took a strangled tone. "He seemed to happy Minerva, albeit a bit worried, as if, if i didn't agree to their plan, it wouldn't go through. He looked excited-truly excited-about the prospect of being able to be himself, not some perfect Slytherin pureblood like Lucius wants him to be."

Minerva sighed slightly, as if in resignation, but she did not move any farther into the room than the corner she was standing in.

"It is alright to be sympathetic to the boy's situation, Albus, but i just hope your decision doesn't make everything all the worse."

Dumbledore gave no reply. He simply stared out the window, watching where he thought the horizon might be. It was impossible to tell in the inky blackness of night. He would tell Draco and Harry soon, but not _too_ soon. Things had begun happening in Hogwarts that only Dumbledore could explain, and he knew that sooner than later, many things long kept in the dark, would be brought to light.

His eyes flickered to a drawer on his desk which he knew contained something very special, and very important. This _thing_ could spell out many different scenarios for the future of Hogwarts and the wizarding world itself; it all depended on the way it was handled. Something in the air was stirring now, and Dumbledore still wasn't quite sure whether the end result would be good or bad.

* * *

For the rest of that week the Hogwarts Rumor Mill was running double time. Most students had believed that the truce made at Tuesday breakfast was merely a formality, words spoken without meaning, and that it would in no way affect the behavior of Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter towards each other. Yet, throughout the week, students were watching in amazement as the two spoke cordially to each other in the halls, and to the other's immediate group of friends. One young third year even claimed that he had seen them talking over homework in the library (Merlin forbid any seventh year but Hermione spend more than five minutes in the library checking out a book to help with homework they were never actually going to do).

There was no more verbal sparring on sigh simply to spar, but instead, a semi-friendly "hello" of acknowledgment when they passed in the halls. Staff and students alike who weren't in on The Plan(as Elizabeth dubbed it in secret meetings with Blaise, Draco, Ginny, and Luna) were completely baffled as to what in the world was going on. But the biggest surprise came that next Monday, two weeks before Hallowe'en.

* * *

Notes: it took me forever to decide how i wanted to end this chapter! I have the entire next "scene" you could call it written out, and i didn't know if I wanted to put it in this chapter or leave it for the next. But then I realized that it was way to long to put in here, and if I add to it, it'll be great for the next chapter. So all you readers'll just have to wait and find out what the biggest surprise of all is~ I'm a bit disappointed with parts of this chapter cause no matter how hard i tried, they just wouldn't come out right. If some of it seems choppy or badly wirtten, I'm sorry. I _am_ going to fix it once i go back and edit the entire story(when it's done). Also(I realized this as i was rereading) i know Draco and Harry's friendship is really rushed, just like Draco and Elizabeth's. It's really kind of sloppy of me, but I have my reasons behind it, and the logic makes sense to me. I'm not even gonna try to explain it here cause it would take too long xD Well, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter~ Not much happened, but there was some pretty significant stuff plot wise, and i was trying to hint at a few things, though im not sure if anyone will notice. PLEASE REVIEW! I love Reviews OH so much. They make me REALLY happy~


	12. SHE LIVES

**SHE IS ALIVE! AHHHHH! **

Heh heh...hey you guys~ How's it going? /shot/

Yeah, I probably deserved that. I mean, I've been gone FOREVER! But you guys can forgive me? right? cause IM FINALLY GONNA UPDATE! OH MY GOD! IT'S SO EXCITING! I'll probably do it tonight right before I go to sleep, but I'm going to put this up right now because it'll get you guys all excited and "WHERE IS MY CHAPTER! GRRR!" haha, i love you readers~ you make me so happy~

But yush, it's true. I. Am. Going. To. Update. Again.

**GASPERLAZ APOCALYPSE!**

No, it is NOT the apocalypse! I just finally figured out how to continue! It involves me changing up where I wanna go with the plot though, so... yush, you'll be seeing some plot soon. Isn't that exciting? I KNOW! RIGHT?

But WOW! I felt like such an idiot when i finally figured out how to write this next chapter~ you'll see when I update~

Now -sternface- this does NOT mean that I will be updating regularly, I'm sorry. I haven't written in awhile, and I'm kind of rusty, so I need to get back into my zone. But I will not be on hiatus anymore, so everyone can look forward for updates when i have time to post them xD

**I LOVE YOU IF YOU STUCK AROUND LONG ENOUGH TO GET THIS! YOU ARE AWESOME! -group hug- **


	13. Chapter 11: Making a Point

Notes: ... Z.O.M.G. I did it. I updated! IM SO PROUD OF MYSELF! I SWEAR TO GOD I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOREVER! But I only just figured out how to write this scene down, and oh my gosh it's SOOOOO much better than all the other ideas i had (hence the reason this is the version that I'm posting)! You may read this and think, 'oh my gosh! how could this be so difficult to write! it's so simple!' but trust me. it was. for me xD But now it's here, and just in time for Christmas! (ZOMG FIVE MORE DAYS!) or, if you don't celebrate Christmas...it's to celebrate the first day of winter! wooo! snow! (even though there's no snow here...and this chapter doesn't have any snow in it at all T.T)

I want to dedicate this chapter to my friend **yumi-2121331** because she was there when I figured out how to write this (figuratively). SO MERRY CHRISTMAS MY BESTIE! I LOVE YOU!

Also, thank you to everyone who's been waiting patiently for me to update. I love you guys so much and I totally don't deserve all of you -.-U YOU ALL ROCK!

It's been awhile since I updated last, and my writing style has changed a bit, so if you notice lots of changes or if you think it's weird or whatever...yeah. it is xD ALSO! My other friend helped me write parts of this chapter. I actually kind of shoved it on her halfway through and was like, HERE WRITE THIS PART! and then she gave it back and i finished it... Cookies for anyone who can figure out where this happened xD Also, after lots of debate, I've completely changed the direction in which I want to take this story so...you'll see what's coming~ For now: ENJOY!

Disclaimer: Yeah, it's been like three months, but I STILL don't own Harry Potter .

* * *

_When you make fun of me,  
I just laugh it off. But if you  
make fun of my friends I. Will. Hurt. You.  
-My friend who wrote a certain part  
of this chapter (*wink wink nudge nudge*)_

* * *

**Chapter 11: Making a Point **(1)

On Monday morning, Elizabeth opened her eyes to a pitch black room. This wasn't abnormal, however, because the Slytherin common rooms were located underground in the dungeons. Thus, no windows, and no light to tell you when morning had come. What _was_ abnormal, however, were the empty beds on the other side of the dormitory. Elizabeth's eyebrows crinkled in confusion as she tried to figure out where her dorm mates were. There was no reason for any of them to be out of bed yet, since, according to them, Elizabeth always woke and got up at ungodly hours of the morning when there was no light in the sky anyways. Elizabeth couldn't help but smirk thinking of the the irritation she gave her 'lovely' roommates.

With a heavy yawn, she pulled her legs out from under the covers of her comfy, warm, and oh-so-inviting bed (-sigh- the day calls), padding across the cold, stone floor (a definite downside to living in a dungeon) to the bathroom.

The face that looked back at her as she glanced up at the mirror had mussed black hair (well duh, she'd just been sleeping) and slight bags under sparkling, but fatigued looking green eyes. Elizabeth flinched slightly at the obvious evidence of her loss of sleep the night before.

Though she had bid Draco goodnight and come up to the Girls Dormitory at a relatively early time, it had taken hours for Elizabeth to finally find sleep. She had spent the time, instead, worrying about the outcome of the coming day. For it was finally here, the day Draco had been waiting for forever (even if he wouldn't admit it): it was finally time for Draco to start acting like the real him around _everyone_, the growing threat of Lucius Malfoy be damned.

Elizabeth shuddered slightly at the thought of Draco's father and leaned forward to splash water in her face. Lucius Malfoy was an ominous figure, and he had been looming in the far corners of Elizabeth's mind since she had concocted her plan to help Draco lose his bad reputation, while working towards a possible house truce between Slytherin and Gryffindor at the same time. Ever since Harry had asked Draco for a truce, it had been certain that Lucius Malfoy would _know_ that Draco had strayed from his "chosen path," so why not go all the way and let Draco be himself while his father plotted out how to kill him? No biggie! Yet, Elizabeth couldn't help but worry. She just knew, that with her luck, things could only end in disaster.

* * *

Once her morning routine was done, Elizabeth went back into the main room of the dormitory to change. Pulling her crisp, school regulated shirt over her head, her eyes casually strayed to the silent alarm clock sitting on Pansy Parkinson's dresser. And she froze.

There, blinking at her in bright, neon green were the numbers, 8, 2, and 0, in that order. 8:20.

Eyes widening, Elizabeth stifled the scream that was growing in her throat, and started moving quickly to throw on the rest of her outfit. No wonder she was the only one in here upon waking up; the late hour at which she had fallen asleep the night before had caused her to sleep in more than an hour than she usually would. And of course, her dorm mates, who didn't really like her, wouldn't take the time to wake her up, not even out of courtesy.

Scrambling to tie her tie and pull on her shoes, Elizabeth grabbed her book bag and sped out the door. She was late. On the one day when she had really needed to be at breakfast on time.

* * *

Coming to a stop in front of the doors to the Great Hall, panting slightly from her rush, Elizabeth took a moment to catch her breath. The doors were wide open since people would begin filing out to get to their respective classes soon, but from her vantage point, Elizabeth couldn't see the Slytherin or Gryffindor tables. Silently hoping that Draco and Blaise had gone through with The Plan without her, she strode forward, toward the door, attempting to look as if she hadn't woken up 10 minutes ago and rushed down here at break-neck speeds.

She had been expecting at least some heads to turn toward her when she came in, but apparently, something at the Gryffindor table was much more interesting. Elizabeth grinned slightly as she caught sight of a shock of familiar blond hair sitting right next to a head of messy, black. Both appeared to be deep in conversation with some of the people around them, and would occasionally laugh or smile at each other in that "we're chums~" way. It appeared that even though she, the creator of the plan, had been absent earlier, the Plan had been put into action.

Sauntering forward, fully into the Great Hall now, Elizabeth felt her face automatically uplifting into a large smile. As she continued toward her destination (the Gryffindor table) her eyes subconsciously slipped over to the Staff Table, and for the briefest moment, she locked eyes with a pair of twinkling blue orbs. And then, someone at one of the other tables noticed her presence. And decided to alert the rest of the room.

As the whispers started, Elizabeth tried to raise her head higher, widening her grin just a bit more. Soon enough, the entire room was having trouble deciding whether they should stare at the apocalypse moment of two former arch enemies sitting together and apparently enjoying each others company, or at the grinning Slytherin who was going to join them.

As she came up behind Draco, he turned, as if sensing her presence. One perfectly sculpted eyebrow was uplifted in a questioning glance, and he was glaring slightly, as if to say, "where have you been?" Elizabeth shrugged and plopped down next to him, shoving Blaise over into Hermione in the process.

"Lovely morning, isn't it? I see that we're all sitting at the Gryffindor table today?~"

Blaise straightened himself and scooted away from Hermione. (hrm, now _why_ was his face red? how strange!)

"That _was_ the plan, wasn't it? Though Draco here had a little panic attack when you never showed up for breakfast. I thought he was going to cry."

Draco shot Blaise a dark look but the Italian pretended not to notice.

"I don't know what you're on about, Blaise, but I was _not_ about to cry, thank you very much. I was simply concerned because I knew how much Elizabeth wanted to be here see this." the blonde defended himself, arms crossed over his chest.

Blaise laughed and appeared to be about to add a comment to the previous statement, but he was cut off by Harry.

"_Right_, Draco. We all know how dependent you are on Elizabeth. It's a surprise you actually managed to work up the balls to go through with it today without her here."

Draco turned his death glare to the black haired Gryffindor and opened his mouth, probably to start some sort of argument, but Elizabeth cut in.

"Now, now, children. Let's not fight. It appears that, even without my divine guidance, you were able to go through with the plan. We're all sitting at the same table right now, aren't we? You have surpassed my expectations, I'm so proud of the two of you." she snickered slightly as both boys looked appalled at her derisive tone, and Blaise laughed again, obviously finding much enjoyment in the torturing of his best friend.

Harry, attempting to regain some of the dignity that Elizabeth had just ripped from him with mere words, immediately countered with, "Which reminds me! Where exactly where you earlier this morning when you were _supposed_ to be leading us in _your_ plan?"

Elizabeth flushed instantly and gave them a sheepish smile.

"Well, I might have, sort of, fallen asleep really late because I was thinking about some things, and then I slept in a little later than I usually do?" she replied, attempting to look innocent.

Draco snorted.

"You sound awfully confident."

Elizabeth grinned at him.

"Why of course I do. How could you ever think I wouldn't?"

Draco simply rolled his eyes while Blaise continued with his chuckling. Harry nudged Draco in a friendly sort of way, as if to 'console' him by saying, "Haha, you keep getting one upped by my sister." Draco glared at him again, though the motion no longer held any sort of malice to it. It was the kind of glare one shares with a friend, to show that you are aggravated, but not really mad.

Harry's grin widened and he turned back to Elizabeth.

"Well, now that Sleeping Beauty is up, we can all go about our breakfast in peace."

Elizabeth smiled before digging into the eggs that had mysteriously appeared on the plate in front of her, and from Blaise's other side, Hermione cracked a grin at Harry's reference to the muggle fairy tale, even though she was apparently deep in some sort of conversation with Luna, Ginny, and Neville. Draco and Blaise just looked confused and this made Harry laugh, his eyes alight with mirth.

Blaise leaned backwards and turned to Draco, peering at him behind Elizabeth's back. "I don't get it!" Draco just shook his head, signaling that he as well hadn't the slightest idea what Harry was talking about. This comment caused Elizabeth to choke on her eggs, swallow hard, and then burst into a fit of giggles, adequately confusing the two Slytherins even more.

From her position on Blaise's other side, Hermione saw fit to take pity on the confused Slytherin's, and, turning away from Luna who was ranting about Nargles (again), put on her best "I'm going to imitate a professor voice."

"Harry was referencing a well known muggle fairytale, 'Sleeping Beauty,' in which a princess is put under a spell so that on her 16th birthday she pricks her finger on a spindle and falls asleep, only to be awoken by true loves kiss." satisfied with her brief description, Hermione turned back to Luna, cutting in to declare that there really wasn't any evidence that nargles even existed at all.

Blaise had a sort of dazed look on his face, but Draco, if anything, looked more confused. A thought seemed to hit him, and his gaze spun to Elizabeth, eyes wide. "If you're Sleeping Beauty, doesn't that mean someone had to have kissed you to wake you up this morning!"

There was a brief pause before Elizabeth was holding her sides, giggling again, oblivious to the mingled looks of pain, fear, and jealousy(?) that were flitting around on Draco's face. Harry gave Draco a knowing look, before chuckling slightly at his friend's expense.

"I didn't mean it literally Draco, no need to get your knickers in a twist."

This was enough to draw a reaction out of Draco because he immediately turned on Harry again, his eyes flashing.

"I do _not_ wear knickers!" he proclaimed vehemently, and loudly enough to shut up the entire rest of the Great Hall. The once greatly-feared Slytherin slunk down in his seat as Elizabeth burst out into loud bouts of racous laughter and the rest of the Great Hall decided to join her. With arms crossed and face flushed slightly, he set his lips in a thin line."It's not that funny."

"Oh but it is, Draco, it _is_!" Elizabeth said once she had recovered from her laughing fit. Wiping a stray tear from her eye (there only because she had been laughing so hard it hurt), she gave Draco a bright smile, which he returned only slightly grudgingly. The brief exchange was enough for Draco to know that the loss of his unfavorable reputation and cool exterior was worth it. For not only would he lose the attitude that had been literally beaten into him since he was born, but Draco would gain admittance into that sacred 'group' that he had watched from afar for so long. Lost in dark corners of icy temperatures and friends that only stuck together for their own personal gain, Draco had watched as students from other houses banded together, smiling and laughing, and wished that he could join them.

Before Elizabeth, he never would have dared, knowing that his father would immediately come down hard on him. Not anymore. Now he and his mother were farther out from under the hand of his father than they had ever been, though Draco knew, it was still there, looming high above, waiting to crash down and flatten him against the Earth.

A pig-like snort brought Draco out from the heavy mist his thoughts had cast over his mind. They had been starting to take a dark turn and, for once, Draco was happy for the abrupt interruption. As he looked up and heard a sharp intake of breath from Hermione, however, his mind was changed.

Standing behind Draco stood a smug-looking Ronald Weasley, his freckled arms wrapped around the waist of one Lavender Brown, who, at the present moment, looked as if she was about to have an orgasm right then and there. It made Draco want to vomit.

"Hello Weasley," Draco heard Elizabeth's voice from beside him, suddenly taking on a cool tone.

Throughout the last few weeks, Ron had been in extreme dis-support of the friendship that appeared to be growing between Harry and Draco, going so far as to claim (loudly, in the halls) that the Slytherins were simply using Harry and that by the end of the months would have warped the Chosen One's mind so much that he was no better than one of those "Dirty Snakes."

A constant reminder of the many (albeit much quieter) disbelievers, Ron's rantings had momentarily caused Draco to believe that the entire plan was fruitless. Elizabeth had put a stop to that, though, when she had punched Ron right in the nose in the middle of dinner when he had insulted the Potter family one too many times. He had slunk off to have his wounds tended by the very willing Lavender, and had not been heard of in some time. But here he was in all his glory, eyes flashing in apparent triumph and looking like he had just won some grand award. Not even Elizabeth's pronunciation of his name (said as if it were some of the vilest scum in the world) could break his practically _glowing_ demeanor.

" 'Ello there, Potter. Whatever are you doing over here at the Gryffindor table. If you are going to taint some of the once-great Gryffindors, shouldn't you all be sitting over at the Slytherin table where you belong, with all the rest of your crafty snakes. You're interrupting the peace over here."

Elizabeth's eyes narrowed, and Draco watched as she subconsciously reached for her wand. He moved his hand onto hers under the table, as if to silently tell her to control her temper, and felt her visibly relax at his touch.

"We can sit wherever we want to, Weasley. And as far as I could tell, you're the only one doing any peace disrupting. We are only trying to spread some house unity."

The ginger's blue eyes narrowed a fraction, but he showed no other signs that Elizabeth's words had affected him in any way.

"Well I don't know about you," Ron countered, mockingly 'copying' Elizabeth's tone of voice, "But I don't believe that any of this is really about House Unity. I'm not buying any of your sham Potter, I know the truth. You're just a nasty wizard who had the potential to turn out right but went wrong. Now you and your slimy boyfriend have contaminated my friends' minds with a bunch of nonsense. You're just trying to take the Chosen One, who's going to defeat your evil, little, cowardly leader, and convert him so that you and all your Death Eater friends can rule the world. "

"Ron," Hermione squeaked in shock at the words the youngest Weasley son had just uttered. With a dark growl, Elizabeth stood, her wand point jabbed dangerously against Ron's neck, and a bright flash of anger and hatred burning in her eyes. Draco made a move as if to stand up next to her, his eyes just as angry, but Blaise pulled him back down. The entire hall had quieted during the beginning of the exchange, and now they were all watching in rapt attention to see what Elizabeth would do next.

Forcefully, the emerald-eyed girl pulled Ron closer by his shirt collar, her eyes shimmering with a dangerous light.

"Ronald Weasley," she spat, "you are nothing but a cowardly cretin who hides behind his words and the pampering of his mother. You refuse to give up the prejudices you've held for so long so you've been looking at all the events of this year with a critical, judging eye, and guess what? ITS PISSING ME OFF!"

Ron was looking shocked. His ears had turned a bright red and he was standing there, allowing this girl (who was much shorter than him, mind you) to man-handle him, body shaking slightly in fright.

"Look, it doesn't make a difference to me if you believe the motives for my actions or not, but you will NOT bring my family into this, and you will NOT accuse me of being a Death Eater! If you _ever_ accuse me of being or consorting with Death Eaters again, I will rip off your ears and burn them in front of you, cut off your tongue and feed it to Filch's cat, curse off every single one of your limbs painfully, slowly, gut you, and then throw the rest of your foul body to the Dementors where they can kiss you for all I care!"

Ron's body was trembling now and if Elizabeth hadn't been holding him upright, it was sure that he would have crumpled to the floor. However, his stubbornness was strong and giving Elizabeth one last defiant look he cast a glance at Draco.

"M-malfoy is a Death Eater..."

The room fell completely silent for a split second, but then it was broken by a mish-mash of noises. There was a collective gasp from all four tables, Hermione had clasped a hand over her mouth and was staring at Ron in horror, Ginny and Blaise had started cursing under their breath, and Luna was _still_ mumbling to herself about nargles. Draco, however, hadn't said anything, though his eyes had gained a steely quality, and his fists had clenched tightly under the table.

Elizabeth was practically seething, and, were it not for great amounts of self-control, she probably would have murdered Ron right then and there. Instead, she hissed and pulled Ron closer, her wand jabbing even harder into the red-head's neck.

"If you ever say _that_ again, I will take all my other threats and inflict them on you tenfold! Then, when you finally die, I will continue to torture your dead body until the end of time! Never will you forget the taste of suffering!"

With a disgusted noise, Elizabeth threw Ron away from her, causing him to land in a heap at Lavender's feet, who shrieked in agony and knelt down to start fawning over her 'Ronniekinz.' Elizabeth stared at Ron with a look filled with such loathing that even the dementors would have shied away, and then turned away from the pathetic lump.

"Get out of my sight Wealsey. And remember what I said. If anything, _we Slytherins_, are good at torture if we want to be, and you should know: I meant everything I just said."

Without so much as another word, Ron jumped up out of Lavender's grip and raced from the hall without a second look over his shoulder. The distraught Brown called his name and rose to run after him, stumbling on her way and literally falling through the giant oak doors.

The hall remained silent for awhile, and even as Elizabeth sighed slightly and sat back down in her seat, no one dared speak. Turning to Draco, as if nothing had happened, Elizabeth sighed again.

"I really do wish I didn't have to scare him like that. But he really _was_ out of line."

Draco gave her a disbelieving look, but said nothing. Elizabeth ignored his questioning gaze and turned back to her plate, lifting her fork and scooping up some more egg, causing a harsh noise as the silver fork clashed against the porcelain plate. The sound seemed to echo around the room, the silence was so heavy. It was as if people were forcing themselves not to breathe.

Suddenly, a deep chuckle came from the Staff Table. All eyes darted there immediately, but there was no sign as to who had laughed. After a second, Dumbledore stood from his seat and cleared his throat.

"I have an announcement to make. This weekend, all Fifth through Seventh years will be going down to Hogsmeade. This extra trip has been planned in the hopes that you will all buy costumes for the Hallowe'en Ball to be held this Sunday evening for Fifth through Seventh years only. Now please, off to classes with you."

And with that, the old man sat back down.

* * *

(1) - yeah, the title only deals with one part of the chapter, but I let my friend title it sooooo...xD

Notes: WOO! don't you love the totally abrupt ending? it made me smile~~~ ... soooooo ... yeah, I feel terrible for being so mean to Ronniekinz right there, but (if you couldn't guess) that was the part my friend wrote and she wanted to make him seem like an evil pig so -shrugs- I shall leave it be. SO SO! WHAT DID Y'ALL THINK OTHERWISE?

Now, see what I did there... I was having trouble writing out the whole exchange between Draco and Harry as Draco comes to ask to sit with Harry. I just couldn't get it right! ARG! but then, after months of trying to figure out how the hell I was supposed to do this, I'm texting my lovely Yumi-chan, and suddenly it's like BAM! IDEA! What if, I don't even have to write it? What if Elizabeth gets there late and yadda yadda yadda... I felt like a complete dumb*ss for not thinking of that sooner.

I DID THINK OF IT THOUGH! AND LOOK! A LUVERLY UPDATE JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS/WINTER!

AND SORRY SORRY! but, the prophesy wont be coming for another couple chapter, for all of you who really want to know what that is. I need to rewrite it since I changed directions with this story, but while you wait for that, you get a whole 'nother bunch of filler chapters about Hogsmeade and the Ball and shtufffff~ Plus, imma put some Fluffy Shtuff in there soon n.n (heh heh, did you see me hinting at Blaise/Hermione in there? I kinda like them as a couple, so I dunno, I might go somewhere with that -shrugs-) SO YEAH! STAY TUNED!

Now, if you all are nice readers, you'll leave me a review~ Either telling me how epic this chapter was or complaining because it took me so darn long to update -shrugs- doesn't matter to me~ I just like review n.n CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS ALWAYS WELCOME!

Love Snowflake~~~


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